The number of job vacancies in Canada hit 964,000 in July, down 5.5% from June 2022, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada released on Thursday.

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The number of job vacancies in July remains “high,” Statistics Canada said, adding that it was up 16.2% (+134,300) compared to the same month in 2021.

The job vacancy rate was 5.4% in July, down 0.4 percentage points from June and down 0.6 percentage points from the peak of 6.0% reached in April 2022.

“Payroll increased 6.1% from March to July 2022; it outpaced labor demand growth (+5.7%) over the same period and helped the number of job vacancies decline from a peak of 1.04 million in May, according to Statistics Canada.

According to the agency, “roughly half of the drop in job vacancies from June to July was due to seasonal developments.”

In July 2022 there were 1.1 unemployed for every vacancy in Canada, up slightly from 1.0 in June but down from 1.9 in July 2021.

In health and social care, the number of job vacancies was little changed: 142,900 in July versus 147,300 in June.

Employment in the accommodation and catering sector fell 15.4% to 143,600 in July after rising for five straight months.

In retail, the number of job vacancies was 99,100 in July, down 11.9% from June.

The number of job vacancies in freelance, scientific and technical services also fell month-on-month (-9.4%; 65,600).

In manufacturing (82,500), construction (81,600), administrative, auxiliary, waste disposal and sanitation services (57,000) and finance and insurance (45,100), the number of job vacancies changed little from month to month.

Quebec has one of the highest job vacancy rates in the world

British Columbia (6.1%; 153,100 job vacancies), Quebec (5.9%; 246,300) and Ontario (5.2%; 360,500) were the three provinces with the highest job vacancy rates in Canada.

Wages continue to rise

Statistics Canada also reported that the average weekly wage had risen 2.9% year-on-year in July, continuing growth that began in June 2021.

Quebec (+5.9% to $1,119) and New Brunswick (+5.9% to $1,068) posted the largest 12-month gains in average weekly earnings in July, while Alberta (+1.1% to $1,247) showed the smallest increase.