Payrolls, wages higher in May: StatCan

While payrolls and wages rose in May, job vacancies were flat, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

The national statistical agency reported that payroll employment rose by 0.2% in the month, an increase of 41,000 workers, which pushed the total increase through the first five months of the year to 148,900.

Payrolls increased in nine of 20 sectors tracked by StatCan, led by gains in the health care, education and retail trade sectors. 

Alongside the increase in payrolls, average weekly earnings were up in May, rising by 0.8% in the month.

Wage gains accelerated in May, growing at a 4.2% annual rate, up from 3.8% in April, StatCan noted. These gains weren’t driven by people working more, as average weekly hours worked were essentially unchanged in May, the data showed.

StatCan also reported that the number of unfilled jobs was flat in May, following three straight monthly declines. On a year-over-year basis, job vacancies were down by 28% from May 2023, representing 217,100 fewer openings.

Total labour demand, which represents the total of filled and open jobs, declined by 0.2% in May, StatCan reported, and is down by 0.3% on a year-over-year basis.

The job vacancy rate — the number of unfilled jobs as a share of total labour demand — was below its pre-pandemic level, declining 0.1 percentage point to 3.1% in May, the report said. As a result, there were 2.5 unemployed workers for every job opening, compared to 2.4 in April.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.