Construction employment stalls in October
By Adam Freill
Construction LabourPayroll employment and job vacancies both decline in the sector as Canada loses 44,600 workers.
Overall payroll employment declined by 44,600 in October. (Source: Statistics Canada, Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (2612), table 14-10-0220-01.)
Canada’s payroll employment fell by almost 45,000 in October, according to Statistics Canada’s latest Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours. The 0.2 per cent dip offset an increase of 36,200 in September and following little variation in July and August.
Construction employment played a significant role in the drop as the sector fell by 6,700 positions, or 0.6 per cent, on the month. This followed gains of 3,600 in September and a sizeable decrease of 13,100 in August. In October, payroll employment in construction was down by 16,200 from its July peak and was virtually unchanged from this past March.
The October declines were mainly recorded in heavy and civil engineering construction (-2,600), specialty trade contractors (-2,400) and construction of buildings (-1,700).
According to the survey, Canada’s construction sector had 1,173,500 workers in October, along with 57,500 vacancies and a job vacancy rate of 4.7 per cent. In the broader economy, Canada had 633,400 job vacancies, which was virtually unchanged from September, following five consecutive monthly decreases from May to September.
