Ontario Construction News staff writer
Statistics Canada says the economy added 154,000 jobs in November as the labour market showed more signs it’s returning to pre-pandemic levels.
The unemployment rate fell to 6.0 per cent last month compared with 6.7 per cent in October.
However, the unemployment rate would have been 7.8 per cent in November had it included Canadians who wanted to work but didn’t search for a job, down from 8.7 per cent in October.
Statistics Canada’s latest building permit and labour force data highlighted positive statistics for Ontario’s construction industry.
Year-to-date (January-October) ICI building permit values in Ontario were up by 6.6% over last year, and up in all three sectors. Institutional permit values were up by 19.8% in Ontario year-to-date over 2020, while industrial permit values were up by 13.5%. Year-to-date commercial permit values in Ontario were up only slightly (+0.2%).
One office renovation project – SickKids Foundation in Toronto contributed to commercial permit values in October.
The number of workers employed in the construction industry in Ontario rose in November to 557,300, an increase of more than 7,000 in one month.
Statistics Canada also says that the number of long-term unemployed fell by 62,000, marking the first monthly drop since August.
Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island – saw gains, with few changes for the remaining four. The agency notes that the monthly jobs survey took place just before severe flooding struck British Columbia.
With unemployment declining and job vacancies ticking upwards, the statistics office says signs point to new or worsening labour shortages or skill mismatched.
Leah Nord, senior director of workforce strategies for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, says the country is no better off today than pre-pandemic because there is still no meaningful way to connect unemployed workers with available jobs.
“Now clear of the impacts of support programs, our labour market’s structural problem is laid bare: an entrenched misalignment between the skills employers are looking for and job seekers are offering,” she says, warning that labour market pains are likely to worsen through early next year.