Labour Market Bulletin Nova Scotia This Labour Market Bulletin provides an analysis of Labour Force Survey results for the province of Nova Scotia, including the regions of Annapolis Valley, Cape Breton, Southern, Halifax and North Shore. OVERVIEW For the third consecutive month, Nova Scotia s employment level fell. While the decreases in December and January were slight, the employment decline in was substantially greater at 4,400 jobs. The majority of the positions lost were part-time but full-time jobs still comprised 41% of the overall employment decline. The job loss brought about an increase in the number of unemployed workers which pushed s unemployment rate up to 9.1% from January s 8.4%. Seasonally Adjusted Monthly Data Nova Scotia Monthly Labour Force Statistics January Monthly Variation Yearly Variation Number % Number % Population 15 + ('000) 784.2 784.1 782.3 0.1 0.0 1.9 0.2 Labour Force ('000) 491.2 492.0 492.2-0.8-0.2-1.0-0.2 Employment ('000) 446.5 450.9 448.3-4.4-1.0-1.8-0.4 Full-Time ('000) 367.4 369.2 362.3-1.8-0.5 5.1 1.4 Part-Time ('000) 79.0 81.7 86.0-2.7-3.3-7.0-8.1 Unemployment ('000) 44.8 41.1 43.9 3.7 9.0 0.9 2.1 Unemployment Rate (%) 9.1 8.4 8.9 0.7-0.2 - Participation Rate (%) 62.6 62.7 62.9-0.1 - -0.3 - Employment Rate (%) 56.9 57.5 57.3-0.6 - -0.4 - Source: Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey CANSIM Table 282-0087 Nova Scotia s employment level is also down 1,800 jobs from a year ago. Despite this overall employment decline, an additional 5,100 full-time positions have been created in the province offsetting the loss of 7,000 part-time jobs.
Labour Market Bulletin Nova Scotia Page 2 All of the 1,800 jobs lost in the province between and are attributable to the male workforce. Men lost 3,000 part-time jobs and acquired 700 full-time jobs during the 12 month period. Women in the labour market also lost a substantial number of part-time positions but gained even more full-time jobs which boosted the overall employment level by 500. Seasonally Adjusted Data Nova Scotia Monthly Unemployment Rates, by Gender and Age January Monthly Variation Yearly Variation % % % (% points) (% points) Total 9.1 8.4 8.9 0.7 0.2 25 years and over 8.1 7.4 7.1 0.7 1.0 Men - 25 years and over 9.7 8.0 8.5 1.7 1.2 Women - 25 years and over 6.5 6.7 5.5-0.2 1.0 15 to 24 years 14.7 13.8 19.5 0.9-4.8 Men - 15 to 24 years 19.2 20.0 23.2-0.8-4.0 Women - 15 to 24 years 10.0 6.9 15.6 3.1-5.6 Source: Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey CANSIM Table 282-0087 s unemployment rate was lower for women (7%) than for men (11.1%) in Nova Scotia. Between and, unemployment among men increased by 800, while the number of unemployed women did not change. The youth (aged 15 to 24) unemployment rate has consistently been the highest among all age groups, however it is more pronounced among young men (19.2% in ). The unemployment rate among young women is much lower at 10%. In comparison, in the female youth unemployment rate was much higher at 15.6% and also higher for their male counterparts (23.2%). The 55 years and older age group experienced an increase in their unemployment rate (from 7.4% to 8.4%) in the same period, as 2,100 jobs were lost.
Labour Market Bulletin Nova Scotia Page 3 EMPLOYMENT BY INDUSTRY The loss of jobs that occurred in took place primarily in the Goods-producing sector (93% of the overall employment decline) with Construction and Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas accounting for 90% of the overall jobs lost. Compared to, employment is down by 7,800 jobs due to declining Construction projects and Manufacturing activity. Employment in the Services-producing sector declined slightly in from the previous month because of job losses in Trade and in the Transportation and warehousing industries. However, since, 5,900 Services-producing sector jobs have been created, with 2,500 in Professional, scientific and technical services and 1,800 in Health care and social assistance. Employment in Trade is down by 1,700 and Other services by 1,900. Overall employment in Nova Scotia has been on the decline since 2012; 12,000 jobs have been lost since 2012 of which 94% were part-time positions. For the most part, these were Goods-producing sector jobs in the Manufacturing industry group but large employment declines have also taken place within the Service sector, in the Other services and Public administration industry groups. Some optimism for the province s labour market does exist. Service industries, including Accommodation and food services, and Business, building and other support services, have been adding to their complement of jobs while Professional, Scientific and technical services has led the way in job creation with 5,500 new jobs added since 2012. Seasonally Adjusted Data ('000) Nova Scotia Monthly Labour Force Statistics, by Industry January Monthly Variation Yearly Variation Number % Number % Total employed, all industries 446.4 450.9 448.3-4.5-1.0-1.9-0.4 Goods-producing sector 78.6 82.8 86.4-4.2-5.1-7.8-9.0 Agriculture 5.1 5.0 4.9 0.1 2.0 0.2 4.1 Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas 10.3 12.2 10.1-1.9-15.6 0.2 2.0 Utilities 3.6 3.6 4.1 0.0 0.0-0.5-12.2 Construction 31.8 33.7 35.6-1.9-5.6-3.8-10.7 Manufacturing 27.8 28.2 31.6-0.4-1.4-3.8-12.0 Services-producing sector 367.8 368.1 361.9-0.3-0.1 5.9 1.6 Trade 72.7 73.7 74.4-1.0-1.4-1.7-2.3 Transportation and warehousing 20.9 21.8 20.2-0.9-4.1 0.7 3.5 Finance, insurance, real estate and leasing 22.6 22.3 22.1 0.3 1.3 0.5 2.3 Professional, scientific and technical services 27.8 27.3 25.3 0.5 1.8 2.5 9.9 Business, building and other support services 21.7 20.0 20.6 1.7 8.5 1.1 5.3 Educational services 36.2 36.0 35.3 0.2 0.6 0.9 2.5 Health care and social assistance 70.5 70.9 68.7-0.4-0.6 1.8 2.6 Information, culture and recreation 19.4 19.0 19.3 0.4 2.1 0.1 0.5 Accommodation and food services 32.7 32.9 31.1-0.2-0.6 1.6 5.1 Other services 16.5 17.0 18.4-0.5-2.9-1.9-10.3 Public administration 26.9 27.1 26.5-0.2-0.7 0.4 1.5 Source: Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey CANSIM Table 282-0088
Labour Market Bulletin Nova Scotia Page 4 REGIONAL ANALYSIS According to Statistics Canada s Labour Force Survey s three-month moving-average data, employment decreased in the Annapolis Valley economic region and in Northern Nova Scotia between and of, while it increased in the Halifax, Southern Nova Scotia, and Cape Breton economic regions. Only Northern Nova Scotia saw an increase in the number of unemployed workers and in its unemployment rate. Employment in Cape Breton in was up by 1,300 jobs from of, and the labour force has added 800 more workers over the last year. All of the job gains over this 12-month time period were in parttime employment. The region s unemployment rate fell to 14.7% in of this year from 15.2% in January and from 15.7% in. The Goods-producing sector saw a marginal improvement in employment from last s level as a result of job gains in Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas, which compensated for job losses in the Construction and Manufacturing industry groups. Overall employment was up by 1,200 in the Services-producing sector, as a result of gains in Transportation and warehousing (+2,000 jobs), Trade (+1,400 jobs) and Health care and social assistance (+700). In the North Shore economic region, employment has declined for the last seven consecutive months. Compared to of, there were 3,600 fewer full-time jobs in this year. The labour force has declined by 2,700 workers since last. The employment declines in the region have added to the number of unemployed workers pushing up the unemployment rate by 1.7 percentage points to 12.6%. Employment declined in both the Goods-producing and Services-producing sectors over the last 12 months, with the largest job losses in Public administration and Manufacturing. Losses in both full-time and part-time employment between and in the Annapolis Valley economic region resulted in an overall decrease of 3,100 jobs. Because the labour force decreased by more than the decline in employment, there were fewer unemployed and the unemployment rate dropped to 8.8% from 10.3% in of last year. The number of those not participating in the labour force has swelled by 4,500 over this 12 month period. Within the Goods-producing sector, fewer people were employed in all industry groups, but Manufacturing and Construction suffered the largest losses. The Services-producing sector also showed job losses in, although slight in comparison with the Goods-producing sector. However, the Trade industry group endured a substantial decline of 2,000 jobs within the region s Services-producing sector over the last 12 months. In Southern Nova Scotia, overall employment in was up from by 2,300 jobs due to a gain of 5,100 full-time jobs. An increase in the size of the region s labour force was less than the employment gain. As a result, the unemployment rate decreased from 13.3% in of last year to 10.6% in of this year. Employment in the Goods-producing sector was up slightly, because of job gains in all industry groups. Employment in the Services-producing sector was up by 1,900 in primarily because of an increase in Health care and social assistance. A gain of 6,200 full-time jobs over the last 12 months boosted Halifax s overall employment level by 5,300 jobs. Part-time employment declined by 900 jobs. The overall employment increase exceeded a labour force expansion which reduced the number of unemployed workers and the unemployment rate from 6.6% in to 6.4% in this year. There were 2,800 Construction jobs lost over the past 12 months, which reduced the employment level of the Goods-producing sector. Employment in the Services-producing sector in this year was higher than it was in of last year by 7,200 jobs. The largest job gain in the sector was recorded by the Professional, scientific and technical services industry group (+3,200) and by Public Administration (+2,400). Health care and social assistance employment declined by 2,700 jobs.
Labour Market Bulletin Nova Scotia Page 5 3-Month Moving Averages Seasonally Unadjusted Data Nova Scotia Monthly Labour Force Statistics, by Economic Region Employment Unemployment Rate Yearly Yearly ('000) ('000) Variation (%) (%) Variation (%) (% points) Nova Scotia 439.0 436.8 0.5 9.1 9.6-0.5 Economic Regions Cape Breton 50.0 48.7 2.7 14.7 15.7-1.0 North Shore 62.6 66.2-5.4 12.6 10.9 1.7 Annapolis Valley 51.9 55.0-5.6 8.8 10.3-1.5 Southern 49.7 47.4 4.9 10.6 13.3-2.7 Halifax 224.8 219.5 2.4 6.4 6.6-0.2 Source: Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey CANSIM Table 282-0122 Note: In preparing this document, the authors have taken care to provide clients with labour market information that is timely and accurate at the time of publication. Since labour market conditions are dynamic, some of the information presented here may have changed since this document was published. Users are encouraged to also refer to other sources for additional information on the local economy and labour market. Information contained in this document does not necessarily reflect official policies of Employment and Social Development Canada. Prepared by: Labour Market Analysis Directorate (LMAD), Service Canada, Atlantic Region For further information, please contact please contact the Labour Market Analysis Directorate team at: NC-LMI-IMT-GD@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca For information on the Labour Force Survey, please visit the Statistics Canada Web site at: www.statcan.gc.ca Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada as represented by Employment and Social Development Canada,, all rights reserved