British Columbia is among one of four provinces where the number of job vacancies is higher than the number of unemployed persons.
According to Statistics Canada, British Columbia’s ratio of unemployed-to-job-vacancies was 0.7, below the Canadian ratio of 1.0.
This simple ratio points to the problem facing employers — the record-breaking number of vacancies in Canada. Employers were recruiting more than one million vacant positions in June for the third consecutive month. The job vacancy, which measures the number of vacant positions as a share of all positions (vacant and filled), was 5.9 per cent in June, matching the record-high rate reached in September 2021 and up from 4.9 per cent in June 2021.
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Vacancies were especially high in the accommodation and food services sector, increasing 6.6 per cent (by 10,600 to 171,700) in June. Overall, vacancies in that sector were up 38.8 per cent (48,000 more) on a year-over-year basis. The job vacancy rate in the sector was 12.2 per cent, more than double the all-sectors average.
But vacancies were also rising in other sectors. Vacancies in the retail trade rose 15.3 per cent in June and were up 22.5 per cent higher compared with June 2021. The job vacancy rate was 5.4 per cent.
Other sectors, perhaps less visible in terms of their struggles to recruit staff, also recorded elevated vacancies. They include construction, manufacturing, professional, scientific and technical services, transportation and warehousing; and finance and insurance.
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