According to Statistics Canada’s most recent report on payroll employment, earnings, hours and job vacancies released February 23, the number of employees receiving pay or benefits from their employer rose in December. Finance and insurance take their own place in the report: More than 13,800 positions were created during the month, an increase of 1.7 per cent.
At the same time, the number of job vacancies in those sectors together declined by 5,700 or 15.7 per cent. “After peaking at 5.3 per cent in April of the same year, the job vacancy rate fell to 3.6 per cent in December, owing to rises in payroll employment and declines in vacancies,” the Statistics Canada report states about the sectors.
Statistics Canada says December caps off a year of continued month-over-month growth for insurance and finance. “Year-over-year payroll employment in the sector grew by 59,000 or 7.6 per cent in December. Month-over-month gains were concentrated in Ontario and Quebec.”
They add that nationally, payroll employment in December increased in seven out of 11 sectors measured, lead by insurance carriers who increased their workforce by 4,100 positions or 2.6 per cent.
Across Canada, the Survey of Employment, Payroll and Hours shows the number of payroll employees overall rose by 91,400 in December, a 0.5 per cent increase.
