Highlights – Fourth quarter of 2024
Data visualization
Labour Market in the Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches Regions
Note: Data for 2020 are incomplete due to the pandemic.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Table 14-10-0398-01, and Québec International.
Analysis
Job vacancies: Stable in the short term, but dropping year over year
According to Statistics Canada’s Job Vacancy and Wage Survey (JVWS), the number of job vacancies remained relatively stable during the fourth quarter, settling at 17,300 in the Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches regions, a 0.7% increase compared to the previous quarter. This marked a second quarter of relative stability, after several drops since the peak of 41,585 vacant positions registered in 2022.
However, on a year-to-year basis, the overall trend remains downward in the region. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, the number of vacant positions dropped by 26.7% in both the Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches. Meanwhile, this number also decreased in the province of Quebec (-19.0%) and Canada (-18.8%). Overall, 64 of the 69 Canadian economic regions registered a drop in job vacancies. This evolution is consistent with the labour market adjustment observed in 2024, according to Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey.
Stable payroll employment
Together, job vacancies and payroll employment represent the total labour demand, excluding self-employment. From the third to the fourth quarter of 2024, total demand grew by 5.1% in the Capitale-Nationale and remained stable in Chaudière-Appalaches (+0.4%). On average, total labour demand for both regions was 595,203 in 2024, slightly lower than in 2023 (¬¬-¬1.4%). This is explained by the decrease in the number of vacant positions, otherwise known as excess demand.
Between the fourth quarters of 2023 and 2024, the job vacancy rate—the number of job vacancies expressed as a percentage of labour demand—went from 4.4% to 3.0% in the Capitale-Nationale region. In Chaudière-Appalaches, the evolution followed a similar trend, with the job vacancy rate falling from 3.4% to 2.5%.
Wage progression continues
Nevertheless, from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the fourth quarter of 2024, seasonally adjusted data from Statistics Canada shows that the average offered hourly rate went up 7.4% in the Capitale-Nationale, from $25.75 to $27.65, and 12.4% in Chaudière-Appalaches, from $23.05 to $25.90.
Émile Émond
Senior Economist
Québec International
