Finance sector gains again as overall Canadian payroll employment declines

The number of people in Canada in payroll employment decreased by 17,700 in February compared to January’s 35,700 increase, new data from Statistics Canada shows.

Seven of the 20 main industry sectors saw decreases, led by a 10,000 drop for the accommodation and food services sector, which has been generally trending down since its peak in June 2023. Manufacturing lost 9,500. Retail was down 8,200.  The three sectors had seen gains in January. Year-over-year overall payroll employment was up 154,700 or 0.9%.

Finance and insurance was one of the sectors that increased the number of people receiving pay and benefits from an employer. The sector posted a 6,400 gain in February following 5,000 in January and 1,700 in December 2023, marking a third consecutive month of increases. February’s gains were driven by 3,100 in credit intermediation and related activities, and 1,200 in securities, commodity contracts, and other financial investment and related activities. Year-over-year the sector has increased payroll employment by 14,200.

Average weekly wages increased by 0.5% in February, the same percentage as in January, to $1,232. Year-over-year that represents a 4.5% gain compared to the annual pace of 3.7% in January. Average weekly hours worked were little changed on a monthly basis but were up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis to 33.5 hours in February.

Job Vacancies

Job vacancies across all industry sectors were higher in February than in January, an increase of 21,800 (3.4%) to 656,700. This was 178,400 (21.4%) fewer than in February 2023.

This was led by transportation and warehousing (+16,300; +66.4%), followed by finance and insurance (+4,100, +17.3%) while most other industries were little changed. Only information and cultural industries saw fewer job vacancies, down 3,900 or 44.4%. On a yearly basis, 17 of the 20 sectors recorded lower vacancies.

Finance and insurance vacancies were down 6,600 from a year earlier and the job vacancy rate in the sector was 3.2% in February, up 0.5 percentage points from January.

The job vacancies were led by 18,200 in Ontario and 9,900 in Alberta with the other provinces showing little change from January.