Construction industry adds 28K new jobs in September after two months of decline

OTTAWA—The construction industry added 28,000 new jobs in September, entirely offsetting declines in the previous two months, according to the latest monthly Labour Force Survey by Statistics Canada.

Construction employment fell by 12,000 in July and and 16,000 in August. Compared to September 2017, employment in the industry rose by 34,000, or 2.4 per cent.

Overall employment across the country rose by 63,000, driven by an increase in part-time employment. The unemployment rate dipped 0.1 percentage points to 5.9 per cent.

Compared with September 2017, employment across all industries was up 222,000, or 1.2 per cent, namely from increases in full-time work. Over the same period, total hours worked rose by 0.7 per cent.

Gains were mainly observed in Ontario and British Columbia, with little changes in the remaining provinces. Employment increased primarily for private sector employees, while the number of public sector employees remained mostly unchanged.

Employment increased for the core age population — aged 25 to 54 — and held steady for the other demographic groups.