Payroll employment, earnings and hours, and job vacancies, May 2024
Released: 2024-07-25
$1,251.77
May 2024
4.2% 
(12-month change)
$1,242.93
May 2024
4.0%
(12-month change)
$1,071.16
May 2024
7.1%
(12-month change)
$1,134.18
May 2024
6.6%
(12-month change)
$1,119.33
May 2024
1.7%
(12-month change)
$1,195.36
May 2024
3.9%
(12-month change)
$1,282.06
May 2024
4.2%
(12-month change)
$1,147.97
May 2024
4.5%
(12-month change)
$1,212.03
May 2024
4.5%
(12-month change)
$1,334.21
May 2024
3.7%
(12-month change)
$1,265.71
May 2024
4.7%
(12-month change)
$1,452.95
May 2024
6.2%
(12-month change)
$1,697.31
May 2024
8.1%
(12-month change)
$1,696.36
May 2024
2.8%
(12-month change)
The number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer—measured as "payroll employment" in the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours—increased by 41,000 (+0.2%) in May. This was the fifth consecutive monthly increase, with a cumulative gain of 148,900 (+0.8%) from January to May.
Meanwhile, job vacancies were little changed in May, at 559,700, following three consecutive monthly declines from January to April, totalling 99,700.
Chart 1
Payroll employment increases in May for the fifth consecutive month
In May, monthly payroll employment increases were recorded in 9 out of 20 sectors, led by health care and social assistance (+13,800; +0.6%), educational services (+8,800; +0.6%), retail trade (+4,500; +0.2%) and transportation and warehousing (+4,000; +0.5%). These gains were partially offset by decreases in public administration (-4,000; -0.3%), administrative and support, waste management and remediation services (-2,400; -0.3%) and utilities (-1,300; -1.0%). The remaining eight sectors were little changed.
Chart 2
Payroll employment increases in nine sectors in May, led by health care and social assistance
Payroll employment in health care and social assistance continues an upward trend since September 2022
Payroll employment in health care and social assistance increased by 13,800 (+0.6%) in May, continuing an upward trend since September 2022 and bringing the cumulative gain over this period to 165,800 (+7.5%).
In May 2024, the monthly gain in health care and social assistance was led by general medical and surgical hospitals (+5,100; +0.8%), followed by community care facilities for the elderly (+1,800; +1.2%) and nursing care facilities (+1,400; +0.6%).
Retail trade records a monthly payroll employment increase
Payroll employment in retail trade increased by 4,500 (+0.2%) in May, following a slight increase in April (+1,200; +0.1%) and two consecutive monthly decreases in February and March, totalling 10,700 (-0.5%). On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment in retail trade was down 9,000 (-0.4%) in May.
Within the sector, the monthly gain in May was concentrated in food and beverage retailers (+3,300; +0.6%) and motor vehicle and parts dealers (+1,000; +0.5%).
Payroll employment in educational services continues upward trend in May
Payroll employment in educational services increased by 8,800 (+0.6%) in May, continuing an upward trend since February and bringing the cumulative gain over this period to 36,700 (+2.6%). Elementary and secondary schools (+24,000; +2.9%) recorded the largest gain from February to May.
Payroll employment in transportation and warehousing generally trends up since December 2023
Payroll employment in transportation and warehousing increased by 4,000 (+0.5%) in May, following little change in April and an increase of 2,300 (+0.3%) in March. Payroll employment in this sector has generally trended up since December 2023, with a net gain of 10,300 (+1.2%) from December 2023 to May 2024.
The monthly gain in May was largely concentrated among couriers and messengers (+1,500; +2.0%) and transit and ground passenger transportation (+1,500; +1.2%). Together, these two subsectors accounted for over half (53.0%) of the sector's net gain in payroll employment from December 2023 to May 2024.
Public administration records a monthly decline in payroll employment
Payroll employment in the public administration sector decreased by 4,000 (-0.3%) in May, following little change in April and a decline of 1,300 (-0.1%) in March. Year over year, payroll employment in public administration was up by 37,500 (+3.0%).
Average weekly earnings increase in May on both a month-over-month and year-over-year basis
Month over month, average weekly earnings were up 0.8% (to $1,252) in May, following little change in April. On a year-over-year basis, average weekly earnings grew by 4.2% in May, following a 3.8% increase in April. In general, growth in average weekly earnings can reflect a range of factors, including changes in wages, composition of employment, hours worked and base-year effects.
Average weekly hours were unchanged in May from the previous month but were up 0.6% on a year-over-year basis to 33.5 hours.
Job vacancies little changed in May
In May, job vacancies were little changed, at 559,700, following three consecutive monthly declines from January to April, totalling 99,700. Compared with May 2023, job vacancies were down by 217,100 (-28.0%) in May 2024.
In May, total labour demand—which corresponds to the sum of filled and unfilled positions—decreased by 31,200 (-0.2%) from April and by 54,600 (-0.3%) compared with the previous year.
The job vacancy rate—which corresponds to the number of vacant positions as a proportion of total labour demand—decreased 0.1 percentage points to 3.1% in May and was 1.3 percentage points lower than in May 2023 (4.4%). The job vacancy rate in May 2024 was just below the average job vacancy rate from March 2019 to March 2020 (3.2%), before the COVID-19 pandemic.
In May 2024, there were 2.5 unemployed persons for every job vacancy, compared with a ratio of 2.4 in April.
Infographic 1
Little change in job vacancies following a three-month decline
Job vacancies fall in three sectors
Job vacancies decreased in three sectors in May: administrative and support, waste management and remediation services (-4,300; -14.3%), arts, entertainment and recreation (-3,500; -33.8%), and information and cultural industries (-2,500; -33.8%). Meanwhile, job vacancies increased in finance and insurance (+6,600; +37.5%) and held steady in the remaining sectors.
In administrative and support, waste management and remediation services, the number of vacant positions decreased by 4,300 (-14.3%) to 25,400 in May, resulting in the lowest number of vacancies since February 2016 (25,400). Compared with May 2023, job vacancies in the sector were down by 19,800 (-43.7%) in May 2024.
Job vacancies in arts, entertainment and recreation declined by 3,500 (-33.8%) to 6,800 in May. This was the lowest level of job vacancies in the sector since October 2020 (5,900). On a year-over-year basis, job vacancies in this sector were down by 8,900 (-56.6%) in May 2024.
Vacancies hold steady in health care and social assistance
In May, there were 120,500 job vacancies in health care and social assistance, representing over one-fifth (21.5%) of total job vacancies. The number of vacancies in the sector was virtually unchanged from the previous month, but it was down by 11,200 (-8.5%) on a year-over-year basis. The job vacancy rate in the sector was 4.8% in May, the second highest among all sectors, following accommodation and food services (5.0%).
Job vacancy rates decrease in all provinces year over year
In May, job vacancies held steady in all provinces except for New Brunswick, where job vacancies decreased by 2,200 (-21.0%).
Saskatchewan (4.0%) reported the highest job vacancy rate in May, followed by British Columbia (3.8%). Meanwhile, Prince Edward Island (1.9%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (2.3%) reported the lowest job vacancy rates.
On a year-over-year basis, the job vacancy rate declined across all provinces in May, with notable decreases being observed in Prince Edward Island (-2.2 percentage points to 1.9%), Quebec (-1.7 percentage points to 3.1%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (-1.4 percentage points to 2.3%).
Job vacancy rate falls across largest sectors over a two-year period
Over the past two years, job vacancies and the job vacancy rate in Canada have notably decreased. The job vacancy rate peaked at 5.7% in May 2022, reflecting elevated demand for workers across many sectors, six of which together accounted for nearly two-thirds (65.0%) of all vacancies at the time: accommodation and food services, health care and social assistance, retail trade, construction, professional, scientific and technical services and manufacturing.
From May 2022 to May 2024, the job vacancy rate trended down in each of these sectors. The largest decline was recorded in accommodation and food services (-6.5 percentage points to 5.0%), followed by construction (-3.2 percentage points to 3.6%), manufacturing (-2.9 percentage points to 2.4%), professional, scientific and technical services (-2.8 percentage points to 3.0%) and retail trade (-2.5 percentage points to 2.7%).
The job vacancy rate in five of the six sectors returned to approximately pre-pandemic levels in May. However, the job vacancy rate in health care and social assistance, which recorded a smaller decline of 1.1 percentage points to 4.8% over the two-year period, was 1.4 percentage points above the March 2020 rate in May 2024.
Chart 3
Job vacancy rate falls across largest sectors since its peak in 2022
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Sustainable Development Goals
On January 1, 2016, the world officially began implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—the United Nations' transformative plan of action that addresses urgent global challenges over the next 15 years. The plan is based on 17 specific sustainable development goals.
The Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours is an example of how Statistics Canada supports the reporting on the Global Goals for Sustainable Development. This release will be used in helping to measure the following goals:
Note to readers
Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours
The key objective of the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH) is to provide a monthly portrait of the level of earnings, employment and hours worked, by detailed industry, at the national, provincial and territorial levels.
Payroll employment, as measured by the SEPH, refers to the number of employees receiving pay and benefits (employment income) during a given month. The survey excludes the self-employed, owners and partners of unincorporated businesses and professional practices, and employees in the agricultural sector.
The SEPH estimates are produced by integrating information from three sources: a census of approximately 1 million payroll deduction records provided by the Canada Revenue Agency; the Business Payrolls Survey, which collects data from a sample of 15,000 establishments; and administrative records of federal, provincial and territorial public administration employment, provided by these levels of government.
Estimates of average weekly earnings and hours worked are based on a sample and are therefore subject to sampling variability. This analysis focuses on differences between estimates that are statistically significant at the 68% confidence level. Payroll employment estimates are based on a census of administrative data and are not subject to sampling variability.
With each release of the SEPH data, data for the preceding month are revised. Users are encouraged to use the most up-to-date data available for each month.
Statistics Canada also produces employment estimates from its Labour Force Survey (LFS). The LFS is a monthly household survey, the main objective of which is to divide the working-age population into three mutually exclusive groups: the employed (including the self-employed), the unemployed and those not in the labour force. This survey is the official source for the unemployment rate, and it collects data on the sociodemographic characteristics of all people in the labour market.
Employment trends from the SEPH and from the LFS generally track each other closely, especially over longer periods of time. That being said, because of differences in concepts, definitions and methodologies, variations in employment levels in the SEPH and in the LFS may differ, especially over shorter periods. For a more in-depth discussion of the conceptual differences between employment measures from the LFS and the SEPH, refer to Section 8 of the Guide to the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (72-203-G).
The SEPH and LFS both also provide monthly indicators of pay received by employees. Used together, average weekly earnings (from the SEPH) and average hourly wages (from the LFS) can provide a comprehensive portrait of pay dynamics in Canada. For information on definitions for each indicator, key conceptual and measurement differences, and guidance to data users on when to use each indicator, refer to the report "Earnings and Wages – A guide to using indicators from the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours and the Labour Force Survey."
Unless otherwise stated, this release presents seasonally adjusted data, which facilitate comparisons because the effects of seasonal variations are removed. For more information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.
Non-farm payroll employment data are for all hourly and salaried employees and for the "other employees" category, which includes piece-rate and commission-only employees.
Unless otherwise specified, average weekly hours data are for hourly and salaried employees only and exclude businesses that could not be classified to a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 2022 version 1.0.
All earnings data include overtime and exclude businesses that could not be classified to a NAICS code. Earnings data are based on gross taxable payroll before source deductions. Average weekly earnings are derived by dividing total weekly earnings by the number of employees. Changes in average weekly earnings can reflect a range of factors, including changes in wages, composition of employment, hours worked and base-year effects.
Base-year effect refers to the impact that trends from 12 months earlier (base month) have on the current month's estimate of year-over-year change. In the case of the SEPH, when the average weekly earnings in the base month is at the peak of a short-term trend, this tends to have a downward effect on year-over-year average weekly earnings growth in the current month. In contrast, if the value of the base month is at a low point of a trend, this tends to have an upward effect on the current month's year-over-year growth in average weekly earnings.
Job Vacancy and Wage Survey
Job Vacancy and Wage Survey (JVWS) collection is done on a quarterly basis. The quarterly sample of business locations is allocated to the three collection months of the quarter, approximately balanced by province and by industrial sector across each of the three months. This allows both quarterly and monthly estimates to be produced.
Preliminary monthly estimates are produced for job vacancies, job vacancy rates and payroll employment using available responses from business locations sampled in the corresponding reference month. The reference period for the JVWS is the first day of the respective month.
These preliminary monthly estimates are revised and finalized when the corresponding quarterly estimates are released or shortly thereafter. Users are encouraged to use the most up-to-date data available for each month.
Unless otherwise stated, this release presents seasonally adjusted data, which facilitate comparisons because the effects of seasonal variations are removed. For more information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.
While JVWS employment is calibrated to the SEPH, the SEPH payroll employment and the JVWS preliminary monthly employment figures may differ because of calibration grouping and differences in scope and reference period.
The JVWS also provides comprehensive quarterly data on job vacancies by industrial sector and detailed occupation for Canada and the provinces, territories and economic regions; offered hourly wages; and job vacancy characteristics. More information about the concepts and use of data from the JVWS is available in the Guide to the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey (75-514-G).
Real-time data tables
Tables 14-10-0357-01 and 14-10-0358-01 have now been archived.
Real-time data tables 14-10-0331-01 and 14-10-0332-01 will be updated on August 12.
Next release
June data for the SEPH and the JVWS will be released on August 29.
Products
More information about the concepts and use of the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours is available in the Guide to the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (72-203-G).
The product "Earnings and payroll employment in brief: Interactive app" (14200001) is now available. This interactive data visualization application provides a comprehensive picture of the Canadian labour market using the most recent data from the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours. The estimates are seasonally adjusted and available by province and largest industrial sector. Historical estimates that go back 10 years are also included. The interactive application allows users to explore and personalize the information presented quickly and easily. Combine multiple provinces and industrial sectors to create your own labour market domains of interest.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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