Canadian companies counted 221,000 unfilled jobs in December 2012, according to a recent report from Statistics Canada on job openings. The figure has remained stable compared to the end of 2011. For each open job, there were at the same time 5.7 people unemployed. This ratio is very close to that of December 2011 (5.8).
Significant increase in Quebec
Regionally, Quebec is the only province to have experienced a significant increase in the ratio between unemployment and jobs. With 6.1 unemployed persons for each job opening in December 2011, the figure reached 7.7 by the end of 2012. The increase is explained by a greater decrease in the number of job openings compared to the number of people looking for work.
The eastern provinces continue to have the highest ratios. In Newfoundland and Labrador, 16 people were unemployed for each job opening, 10.5 in New Brunswick and 9.4 in Nova Scotia.
However, the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba reported the lowest ratios with 1.9 for the first two and 3.5 for the third. The largest decrease was noted in Prince Edward Island, going from 15.6 in December 2011, to 6 at the end of 2012, the result of an increase in job openings (from 600 to 1600) while the number of unemployed people remained unchanged.
Disparities by sector
The main sectors of activity were also scrutinized revealing an especially high ratio in construction, with a result of 8.2, a figure practically unchanged compared to 2011. The only downside is the seasonality of jobs which tend to produce a low ratio in summer and high in winter.
The wholesale trade sector is the only one to have seen a major increase from 1.6 to 2.2, mainly due to the reduction in the number of jobs to be filled. The health care and social assistance sector posted the lowest ratio with 1.3.
Finally, in the sectors with lesser activity, a strong increase was registered in mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction, with a ratio going from 1.6 to 2.7. Conversely, the arts, entertainment and recreation sector dropped from 9.1 to 6.0.