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Payroll employment dipped slightly, but not significantly, in Canada’s construction sector in December. (Source: Statistics Canada, Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (2612), table 14-10-0220-01.)
The number of employees receiving pay and benefits from an employer jumped by more than 25,000 in December of 2024, although payroll employment was on the downside of flat for the construction sector for the month, according to the latest Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours from Statistics Canada.
The economy gained 25,300 workers in December, a rise of 0.1 per cent, following a decrease of 14,400 in November and three consecutive months of little change from August to October. On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment was up 158,000; or just shy of one per cent.
The construction sector saw 650 fewer workers in December, a marginal slip that isn’t enough to be statistically significant, reports the agency. Year-over-year the sector has gained roughly 18,500 workers over the past 12 months, a rise of 1.6 per cent, putting employment at 1,186,300 in the industry.
Those gains have contributed to a tightening of the job market in the sector. Seasonally adjusted tracking indicated almost 76,000 available positions in December of 2022, with a downward trend bringing that to just over 55,000 in December of 2023, and to just under 43,000 this past December. Vacancies have started to rebound slightly, making slow and steady gains from the August 2024 low of 37,390. December’s vacancy rate sat at 3.5 per cent.
In the broader view, job vacancies across all sectors increased by 15,500, or three per cent, to 536,100 in December, following three consecutive months of little change. On a year-over-year basis, job vacancies were down by 15.5 per cent, while total labour demand was up by 0.3 per cent. The national job vacancy rate was three per cent.