Labour Force Survey Reveals Positive Trends in March

A whopping 31 per cent increase over last year’s stats was seen for jobs in the hospitality sector.

Not sure what path you’d like your career to take, or if you’ll even find employment when you start looking in the job market? Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey for March shows some promising results and indicates which fields are currently growing.

The past seven months showed the largest employment gains in Canada, exceeding expectations for job creation. According to the Labour Force Survey, 42,900 jobs were created in March, reducing the Canadian unemployment rate to 6.9 per cent. While most economists expected about 22,000 new jobs, the growth that occurred almost doubled their predictions.

British Columbia and New Brunswick came out on top with the highest employment growth, while Quebec registered small gains in job creation. Nova Scotia, however, experienced job declines. The areas to watch appear to be health care and social assistance, business, building and other support services as more people were found to be working in these fields. On the other hand, agriculture saw fewer jobs created.

The demographics also show that youth employment is on the rise, with an increase of 33,000 jobs for those between 15 to 24 years of age. Traditionally, this number rises and falls as students look for summer jobs or post-graduation employment.

According to Workopolis, online job postings are pointing to upward movement in the labour force. Ontario and the Western provinces are up by about 20 per cent. Overall, national online job postings are 12 per cent higher compared to the same time last year. A whopping 31 per cent increase over last year’s stats was seen for jobs in the hospitality sector. Skilled Trades and Transportation jobs, as well as Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation jobs and Manufacturing, Utilities and Natural Resource jobs all had solid gains in the 20 per cent range.