Employment in Canada recovers: sectoral report
The easing of quarantine is having a good effect on employment in Canada. Which industries have seen an increase in wages? And which ones brought back the most jobs?
Average weekly earnings in Canada increased in May, according to a new survey of employment, wages and hours.
While the total number of workers employed declined 1.8%, average weekly earnings rose 2% in May to C$1,139. Average weekly earnings are calculated by dividing total weekly earnings by the number of workers.
Compared to April, this increase was accompanied by a 2% decrease in the total number of hours worked in May. From February to May, the total number of hours worked amounted to 16.9%. At the same time, the average number of hours worked per week increased slightly, resulting in just over 34.
Construction industry recovers from the easing of quarantine in Quebec
Wages in the construction industry rose 3.5% to CAD28,400 in May. This is the only sector that saw such an increase, mainly due to more specialised contractors.
The entire increase in construction was seen in Quebec, where housing construction was allowed to resume in mid-April.
National construction employment is still down about 20% from February.
Average weekly earnings in the construction sector were up 2.6% from May 2019 at $1,315.
Job losses slowed in retail
Retail sales rose by 18.7% in May, although they are still 20% below February levels. Partial growth was also observed in wages and salaries.
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Monthly job losses have slowed. Nearly 279,000 retail jobs were lost in April and about 41,800 in May. Total hours worked in the retail sector in May were up 2.6% from the previous month.
Some retail trade sectors saw wages and salaries rise in May. Car and parts dealers and suppliers of construction materials and gardening equipment increased wages by about 4%.
Average weekly earnings in the retail sector were $676 in May, up 10.5% from a year ago.
Severely affected sectors
In May hotel and restaurant business suffered most of all. In addition to losing 16.9% of jobs here (116,500), the industry also saw the biggest drop in wages. Nearly 770,400 jobs have been cut in this sector since February, the largest decline in this period compared to all other sectors. Average weekly wages in the foodservice sector were CAD 447.75 in May, the lowest of all sub-sectors, but 16.5% higher than May 2019.
A 5.6% decline in mining, oil and gas production largely offset growth in construction, Statistics Canada said. Employment in mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction, fell 27.5% from February. Average weekly wages in this industry fell 1.8% from May 2019 to CAD $1,832. The manufacturing industry saw declines across all industries, with the number of workers down 16% since February (250,000 jobs lost).
In May, employment in the goods-producing sector was 16.7% below its February level, although the number of jobs increased by 0.3%, or 7,300.
The arts, entertainment and recreation sector continues to lose jobs. The sharp decline of 557.7% between February and May was mainly due to constraints in entertainment, gaming and recreation. Massive declines were also seen in the performing arts, sports and related industries. Losses in low-wage workers led to a 27.3% year-on-year increase in average weekly earnings to CAD798.
Employment recovery in June
Canada's employment recovery has been sharper than in the previous economic downturn. The quarantine led to a 15.7% fall in employment in just two months. In contrast, during the 2008-2009 crisis, employment fell 2.5% in nine months.
The easing of the quarantine in May and June led to an initial recovery in employment to 9.2% of February levels. In previous economic deflations, it took two to five years for employment to recover to pre-recession levels.
The labour force survey showed a good labour market recovery in June across all provinces and most sectors in Canada.
