The Job Vacancy Rate is determined by the presence of three specific factors:
- There is a specific job;
- The work could start within 30 days, and;
- The employer is actively seeking employees from outside the company.
Statistics Canada maintains longer-term data on labour demand, job vacancies and the vacancy rate for Canada and the provinces. The following table provides the total labour demand by year, with the green portion of the column showing met labour demand, the blue showing unmet (or vacant positions) demand, with the yellow showing the vacancy rate.
StatsCan Table 14-10-0225-01, Job Vacancies, Labour Demand and Job Vacancy Rate, Annual
In Canada overall and in every province, Job Vacancies are higher in skilled occupations than they are in semi or unskilled occupations.
Where are the Jobs?
The Goods Producing Sector employed 25.4% of the Alberta labour force and the Services Sector 74.6% in July 2019.
The Goods Producing Sector jobs include Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, Mining, Oil & Gas, Utilities, Construction, and Manufacturing.
- Agriculture and Manufacturing jobs are down from last month (a combined total of 500 jobs) and up from July of 2018 (1700 and 5900 respectively:
- Forestry, Fishing, Mining, Oil & Gas are down from June 2019 (7200 jobs) and July last year (11,800 jobs)
- Construction is up from last month (4,600 jobs) and down from last year (2200 jobs)
- Utilities are up this year by 200 jobs, July over June, as well as (800 jobs) over July 2018
Overall, The Goods Producing Sector is down a total of 5700 jobs this July as compared to last July.
Employment in the Service Producing Sector is up by 24,900 jobs in July this year as compared to July 2018.
Only 3 of the 14 Service Sector Industries, (Educational Services, Information, Culture & Recreation, and Accommodation & Food Services) have lost jobs. The highest demand in the Services Sector is in the Personal Services industries, which includes things like daycare, accounting, counselling and rehabilitation, legal, laundry, auto repair, lawn maintenance, and funeral services.
Of those Service Sector Industries that lost jobs in July 2019, the one with the lowest average weekly earnings is the Accommodation & Food Services Industry which at January 2019 was $451.78 and is the lowest of all industries.
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