Labour market conditions continued to cool as job vacancies declined once again in the second quarter, according to data from Statistics Canada.
In a report released Tuesday, the national statistical agency said payrolls grew by 0.4% in the second quarter, a gain of 62,000.
At the same time, the number of vacancies dropped by 59,000 to 582,600. This marked eight straight quarters of declining unfilled jobs from its high of almost one million in the second quarter of 2022.
“The drop in the second quarter of 2024 was approximately twice the decline observed in the previous quarter,” StatCan said. Job vacancies dropped in seven out of 10 industry sectors, led by the trades and transport sector.
With payrolls gaining as vacancies declined, total labour demand was essentially unchanged from the previous quarter. And the job vacancy rate dropped by 0.3% to 3.3%, back to its pre-pandemic level, the agency said.
“Labour market continues to ease as unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio trends up,” StatCan said, noting that the ratio has climbed since the third quarter of 2022, which was driven by a 39.2% drop in job vacancies over the period.
Against the backdrop of labour market cooling, wage pressure also showed signs of easing. The growth rate for average hourly wages remained unchanged at 5.1% in the quarter, but the growth rate for average offered hourly wages eased to 6.8%, down from 7.3% in the first quarter.