Canada's job vacancies post 8th straight quarterly decline

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Canada's job vacancies fell in the second quarter of 2024, marking the eighth consecutive quarterly decline from the record-high of 983,600 reached in the second quarter of 2022, according to the nation's statistical authority.

Job vacancies plummeted by 59,000, or 9.2%, to 582,600 in the second quarter of this year, Statistics Canada said Tuesday in a statement.

The decline in the second quarter was approximately twice the decrease observed in the first quarter, which was 30,200, or 4.5%.

Vacancies dove 43,400, or 8.3%, for permanent positions in the second quarter, and they decreased 15,600, or 12.9%, for temporary positions.

While vacancies plummeted 45,400, or 9.5%, for full-time positions, they declined 13,600, or 8.3%, for part-time positions.

The job vacancy rate, which corresponds to the number of vacant positions as a proportion of total labor demand, decreased 0.3 percentage points to 3.3% in the second quarter, also marking the eighth consecutive quarterly decline.

"There were 2.4 unemployed persons for every job vacancy in the second quarter of 2024. The unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio has trended up since the third quarter of 2022," the statement said.

"The steady increase in this ratio over this period was driven by a decrease in job vacancies, combined with an increase in the number of unemployed persons."