Statistics Canada released their Job Vacancy Change Survey for Q1 2019 as compared to Q1 2018 in June.

The Job Vacancy Rate is determined by the presence of three specific factors:

  1. There is a specific job;
  2. The work could start within 30 days, and;
  3. The employer is actively seeking employees from outside the company.

The Private Sector which employs roughly two-thirds of Canadians refers to organizations that are privately owned and Public Sector jobs refer to jobs that are “owned and operated by the government (public bodies or public authorities).

Job Vacancies were down in that period for Alberta – specifically in the following regions:

  • Red Deer (- 1,000 jobs)
  • Wood-Buffalo-Cold Lake (-500 jobs)
  • Camrose-Drumheller (-300 jobs)
  • Banff-Jasper-Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca-Grande Prairie-Peace River (-1000)

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/190618/dq190618b-eng.htm

At the end of March 2019 Alberta’s Labour Force (18,900 people), Unemployment (15,600 people), and Employment (4,600 people) were up.  The gap between the Labour Force and the combination of unemployed and employed people (1300 people) is the number of people who are no longer included in the employed or unemployed groups.  They are people who are not on EI, not working,  or not working in the visible labour market.

Job Vacancy rates do not rise and fall consistently with Unemployment Rates. Unemployment can rise at the same time as Job Vacancies increase.  Job Vacancy Rates can also go up when employment numbers increase as more jobs are created and when new skills are required.

Questions or comments?  Please contact me at anne@annehoward.com

Private Sector Job Openings