Payroll employment declines in February as job vacancies hold steady

The number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer fell in February, reversing gains seen the previous month, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

Payroll employment decreased by 60,200 jobs, or 0.3 per cent, in February, following an increase of 44,300 positions in January. On a year-over-year basis, employment levels were virtually unchanged.

The decline was led by losses in several key sectors, with transportation and warehousing seeing the largest drop, down 14,000 jobs, or 1.6 per cent.

Administrative and support services fell by 7,500 positions, followed by retail trade, construction and accommodation and food services.

Despite the drop in payroll employment, the number of job vacancies showed little movement during the month. There were 497,200 unfilled positions in February, a figure that remained relatively stable compared with January.

However, compared with a year earlier, job vacancies were down by 29,000, or 5.5 per cent, suggesting a gradual easing in labour demand.

Overall, the February data points to some softening in Canada’s labour market, with employment declining across multiple industries while job openings remained steady.