Ontario Construction Employment Declines Slightly in September - Statistics Canada

Canada-wide employment, all sectors:

• Employment rose by 64,000 (+0.3%) in September, following an increase of 40,000 (+0.2%) in August.
• The employment rate—the proportion of the population aged 15 and older who are employed—rose 0.1 percentage points to 62.0%, offsetting a decline in the previous month.
• The unemployment rate was unchanged in September and stood at 5.5% for the third consecutive month.
• Employment increased among core-aged (aged 25 to 54 years) women (+37,000; +0.6%) and men (+32,000; +0.5%), while it was little changed for youth aged 15 to 24 and people aged 55 and older.
• There were more people employed in educational services (+66,000; +4.5%), offsetting a decrease of 44,000 (-2.9%) in August.
• Employment in transportation and warehousing also increased (+19,000; +1.8%), while there were fewer people employed in finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing (-20,000; -1.4%), construction (-18,000; -1.1%) and information, culture and recreation (-12,000; -1.4%).
• Employment increased in six provinces in September, led by Quebec (+39,000; +0.9%) and British Columbia (+26,000; +0.9%). Employment declined in Alberta (-38,000; -1.5%) and New Brunswick (-2,700; -0.7%).
• On a year-over-year basis, average hourly wages rose 5.0% (+$1.63 to $34.01) in September, following increases of 4.9% in August and 5.0% in July.
• Total hours worked were virtually unchanged in September and rose by 2.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Ontario-wide employment, all sectors:

• Total employment in September stood at 7,960,000, an increase of 0.3 % from the previous month
• The unemployment rate in September was 6.0%, up 0.1 pts from August

Canada-wide employment, Construction:

• Total employment in the construction industry across Canada in September stood at 1,556,300, a decrease of 17,500 or 1.1% from the previous month
• Total employment in the construction industry across Canada in September 2023 was up 10,500 or 0.17% from September 2022

Ontario-wide employment, Construction:

• Total employment in the construction industry in Ontario in September 2023 stood at 596,400. A decrease of 6,400 or 1.1% from the previous month
• Total employment in the construction sector in Ontario year-over-year increased by 10,100 or 1.7%