Hiring index shows big jump in advertised jobs

The Conference Board of Canada has launched a new Canadian Hiring Index. It tracks changes in the volume of online job postings across provinces and cities, industries, and occupations over time. It also includes a new measure of labour market tightness.

The index increased 6.7 percent month-over-month in March, the highest increase since July 2022. Although the index increased month-over-month, job postings nationally decreased 5.1 percent compared to March 2022.

The manufacturing, construction and utilities sectors saw the most notable rise in the Index compared to last month.

“This Index is being introduced to provide businesses and employers with insights into changes in gross labour demand in the economy,” said Sohaib Shahid, director, economic innovation at The Conference Board of Canada.

“We also include a measure of labour market tightness, which provides a read on labour market demand relative to labour force capacity at national and provincial levels.”

Increased immigration levels in Canada are driving both population and labour force growth, resulting in notable employment gains. The Conference Board of Canada anticipates the unemployment rate to rise in 2023, as the demand for workers from organizations wanes and ability for an increasing population to find work weakens.

“Our research found that across provinces, Saskatchewan has the most job postings relative to the size of its labour force, suggesting particularly tight labour market conditions” said Liam Daly, Economist at The Conference Board of Canada.

This timely Index provides monthly data that track changes in the volume of online job postings by occupation and industry, as well as in all provinces and 29 major cities across Canada. The new Canadian Hiring Index builds on a comprehensive suite of economics products offered by The Conference Board of Canada including the Index of Business Confidence, Index of Consumer Confidence and Index of Consumer Spending.

Job postings data are collected from company websites and online job boards. Historical data is available from January 2018.