Construction employment rises in April

Employment growth in April. (Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey (3701), table 14-10-0355-01.)

Across all business sectors, employment in Canada rose by 41,000 in April. These latest figures from Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey for April indicate that growth was strongest in part-time employment, although full-time work held steady. Since February, monthly employment growth has averaged 33,000, following cumulative increases of 219,000 in December 2022 and January 2023. The employment rate—the share of the population aged 15 and older who are employed—held steady at 62.4 per cent for the third consecutive month in April.

Within the construction sector, seasonally adjusted gains landed at 7,000 positions for the month, and more than 50,000 over the past 12 months. Compared to April of 2022, there were 52,400 more workers in the sector in April of 2023.

The general unemployment rate has not changed since December, continuing to hold steady at five per cent. The number of unemployed persons stood at 1.1 million in April, with the majority having been unemployed for 13 weeks or less (64.3 per cent). The proportion who had been unemployed for 27 weeks or more, or defined as long-term unemployed, was 15.4 per cent, down from 19.5 per cent a year earlier, and in line with the pre-pandemic proportion of 15.3 per cent that was reported in February of 2020.

Compared with 12 months earlier, the number of private sector employees rose by 299,000, a gain of 2.3 per cent, while the public sector rose two per cent, with 81,000 more workers. Self-employment was virtually unchanged on a year-over-year basis in April and remained almost five per cent below its February 2020 pre-COVID-19 pandemic level.

On a year-over-year basis, average hourly wages rose 5.2 per cent, gaining $1.66 to reach $33.38 in April.

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