Highlights
- According to Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey (LFS), there were 471,600 people employed in the second quarter of 2019. This is a record for the Québec City CMA labour market.
- From May to June 2019, there were 1,100 more people employed, a seventh consecutive month of growth.
- Dropping for the fourth month in a row, the unemployment rate remained at a historic low, reaching 2.4%, the lowest rate in Canada.
- Statistics Canada’s data series revealed that the number of jobs increased by 44,800 in the province of Quebec over the past six months, while the unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.9%.
Commentary
In the Labour Force Survey, Statistics Canada estimated that there were 1,100 more people employed in June than in May, marking a seventh consecutive month of growth. This increase allowed the Québec City CMA to reach a new historic high. In comparison, there were 458,200 jobs in the CMA on this date in 2018. Overall, 26,100 jobs were created in the region during the first semester of 2019, the best start of year since this type of data has been available (2002). Moreover, the unemployment rate in the region fell at the beginning of the year, dropping from 3.8% in January to 2.4% in June, the lowest rate in Canada. This decrease, explained by faster growth in employment than in the labour force, is a clear indicator that the region continues to suffer from labour shortages.
Despite a slight contraction of the labour force from May to June 2019 (-0.2%), the mid-year results remain positive, with 483,300 people in work. Moreover, there are 20,200 more people in the Québec City CMA labour force compared to the beginning of the year. This situation is also reflected in the participation rate and employment rate, both rising during the first semester of 2019. The participation rate reached 70.4%, ranking highest in the province of Quebec, and seventh in Canada. With a record employment rate of 68,7%, the region ranked third in Canada. This overall increase is the result of strong participation in the labour market by people in all age categories.
The labour market performance for the first half of 2019 was supported by several sectors of the economy, compensating the decrease in the construction and management services sectors. Additionally, the sectors of professional, scientific and technical services; retail trade; and finance and insurance are expanding.
Émile Émond
Economist
Québec International
