Photo by Matt
According to a report released by the Conference Board of Canada on April 19th, the economy created over 80,000 jobs in the first quarter of this year, although the Canadian employment rate slightly decreased in March.
The Board uses a Help Wanted Index calculated by measuring the seasonally-adjusted number of online job postings during the month across 79 job websites. It shows that employment grew in 19 of 27 census metropolitan areas (CMA), including cities and their surrounding suburbs, in the first quarter of the year, Montreal Gazette explained.
The Board expects growth in 24 CMAs – Calgary, Halifax, Saguenay, Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa–Gatineau, Kingston, Greater Sudbury, Toronto, Hamilton, St. Catharines–Niagara, London, Windsor, Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo, Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, Regina, Edmonton, Abbotsford–Mission, Vancouver, and Victoria. It expects a decrease in only three CMAs (Trois-Rivieres, Sherbrooke, and Oshawa). Stable prospects are in Saint John and Saskatoon.
The report said the West awaits the brightest employment prospects. “In addition, the indicator of labour market tightness — a ratio that measures the number of unemployed workers to the number of job openings — remains below the Canadian average of 2.3 in every Western Canadian CMA except Abbotsford, a sign of tight labour markets,” it added.
