Record level job vacancies continue climbing across all work sectors

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Ontario Construction News staff writer

The number of job vacancies is at record levels and continuing to climb in Ontario and across the country.

According to a new report from Statistics Canada, employers across all sectors and regions were actively looking to fill nearly one million – 997,000 – vacant positions in August – the highest quarterly number on record.

Employers continued to face significant hiring challenges during the second quarter, with 44 newly hired employees for every 100 vacancies. In comparison, there were 113 new hires for every 100 vacancies in the second quarter of 2016.

Sectors where the ratio of new hires to vacancies was low in the second quarter of 2022 included health care and social assistance; accommodation and food services; and construction.

Vacancies in the second quarter were up 4.7% (+45,000) from the first quarter, and 42.3% (+296,500) higher than in the second quarter of 2021.

The report also shows the job vacancy rate was 5.7% in the second quarter, an all-time high. Since the first quarter of 2020, growth in labour demand (+4.2%) has exceeded growth in payroll employment (+1.7%), resulting in record high job vacancies.

Also, average hourly wages offered to new employees increased 5.3% to $24.05 in the second quarter on a year-over-year basis. Over the same period, the average hourly wages of all employees rose 4.1%.

In construction, offered wages were up 5.2% to $27.30.

The number of job vacancies reported in the second quarter in retail trade (112,700), manufacturing (85,900) and construction (82,900) remained consistent with record highs of the previous quarter.

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