Restaurants, airlines, schools and nursing homes are at the sharp end of a labour crunch that’s afflicted employers all year long. In June, the unemployment rate fell to a record low of 4.9 percent, tightening the screws on an economy with more positions than it could fill.
Amid a prolonged pandemic, laid-off workers took stock and reassessed their priorities. Others, grappling with a burnout in precarious or stressful work environments with long hours, simply walked away.
Some of the hardest hit sectors are struggling to find and retain workers. Wages have increased, but signs suggest some of that growth is slowing. Although retail employment is up from 2021 when public health restrictions kept many stores partially or fully closed, payroll employment dropped in both April and May, Statistics Canada data released Thursday shows.
Job vacancies in the health-care sector rose in May, StatCan reported, and are up 20 percent from the same month last year. Meanwhile, the number of openings remained steady in accommodation and food services, but there are twice as many of them as the overall average.
