New data from Statistics Canada finds that the number of job vacancies fell by 31,900 (-5.5%) in the third quarter of last year, marking the ninth consecutive quarter in which the figure has dropped.

However, says the national agency, the drop in the third quarter was smaller compared with the decline recorded in the second quarter of 2024 (-63,200; -9.9%).

Vacancies fell in four of the 10 broad occupational groups, led by sales and service occupations (-12,500; -7.4%), and health occupations (-8,200; -9.5%).

Vacancies dropped by 6,900 (-6.6%) to 98,400 in trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations. This was the ninth consecutive quarterly decline observed since the record high (195,000) reached in the second quarter of 2022.

On a year-over-year basis, the number of vacant positions in trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations was down by 43,100 (-28.5%) in the third quarter of 2024.

The largest decreases were recorded for transport truck drivers (-7,000 to 13,200), construction trades helpers and labourers (-6,000 to 12,300), carpenters (-4,400 to 4,600), and automotive service technicians, truck and bus mechanics and mechanical repairers (-3,300 to 6,300).

Across all occupational groups, job vacancies declined for both permanent (-27,800; -5.9%) and temporary (-4,100; -4.0%) positions, and among both full-time (-19,300; -4.5%) and part-time (-12,600; -8.5%) positions.

The job vacancy rate—which corresponds to the number of vacant positions as a proportion of total labour demand—decreased 0.1 percentage points to 3.1% in the third quarter of 2024, marking the ninth consecutive quarterly decline from a record high of 5.6% in the second quarter of 2022.

Finally, the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio—which tracks the number of unemployed persons per job vacancy—continued a steady increase to 2.6 in the third quarter of 2024, up from 2.4 in the second quarter, and from 2.0 in the first quarter.

The increase in the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio from the third quarter of 2022 reflected both a decrease in job vacancies (-410,500; -43.0%) and an increase in the number of unemployed persons (+374,200; +35.5%).