Annual employment and labour force data contract slightly in June, but growth among young workers remains strong
The latest Labour Force Survey (LFS) data from Statistics Canada finds that while construction-sector employment contracted over the past year, demand for young workers grew.
Data for June 2024 shows an overall, national contraction in employment of -2.2% compared with June 2023. Meanwhile, the industry’s unemployment rate edged up one tenth of a percentage point – from 4.3% to 4.4%.
Construction sector employment in June was reported at 1,601,500 workers.
A large loss in employment (-42,000 workers) across all genders and age groups in Ontario more than offset combined gains in other provinces in the past 12 months. Smaller contractions also occurred in Alberta (-13,500) and Manitoba (-3,200), while British Columbia (6,800) and Quebec (5,100) reported the largest year-over-year gains.
Nationally, the largest employment contractions were reported in the female component, which dropped by 9.5% over the last year. Employment contractions were consistent among all three age cohorts at between -8.6% and -9.9%. Quebec, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick were the only provinces to report year-over-year increases.
Employment among men nationally also declined, by 1.1%. Ontario accounted for much of this contraction, reporting a drop of 6.6% over the 12-month period.
Notable among the data was an increase in employment of 28,900 workers, or 17.3%, among men aged 15 to 24 years of age. Quebec reported an increase of more than 22,500 workers, or 114%, in this cohort. British Columbia also reported an employment increase of 9,500, while Manitoba reported a drop of 5,400 workers.
Construction unemployment rates across the provinces varied from a high of 9.8% in Newfoundland and Labrador to a low of 2.7% in Quebec. With the exception of New Brunswick (9.7%) and Saskatchewan (6.4%), all other provinces reported rates of 5.0% or less.
The national unemployment rate among females (3.6%) was lower than for males (4.5%) and was lower than males in all age cohorts but for those aged 15 to 24 years.
Although employment figures are lower in 2024, unemployment remains below recent averages
Through the first six months of 2024, construction employment has averaged 1.54 million workers Canada-wide. That figure is slightly below the 1.55 million reported through the same period in 2023. The labour force is also moderately below where it was in June 2023, leading to a slight uptick in the unemployment rate. However, the unemployment rate remains below its five- and ten-year averages, signalling labour markets remain strained.
Year-to-date, construction labour markets appear to be tighter than last year in Eastern Canada (Newfoundland and Labrador to Quebec), while unemployment rates are slightly higher in all provinces west of Quebec. Most notable is Saskatchewan, where the unemployment rate has averaged 10.5% through the first six months compared to 6.6% through the same period last year.
