Pandemic rattles some sectors

Seen from afar, not much has changed in the capital region's job markets in the past two years. But underneath the surface, the shifts have been profound.

In August, our employment base averaged 788,000, just a shade above where it was in the pre-pandemic month of August 2019. (This data, provided by Statistics Canada, is unadjusted for seasonal influences, which is why we're using the same month for comparison).

But, while the overall shift has been slight, the pandemic has pushed some sectors to new heights while roiling others.

Government, always a force in the region, has become even bigger. StatsCan estimated public administration employment in August was nearly 187,000, up 16,300 from two years earlier. The federal government alone accounted for 165,000 of these workers, a gain of 10,700 — reflecting increased hiring in response to the coronavirus crisis.

Counting all three levels of government, jobs in public administration last month accounted for 23.7 per cent of the region's total, up from 21.8 per cent in August 2019.

The next biggest gainer over the past two years has been the building trades sector, which added 11,200 jobs for a total of 52,800. While a boom in new house construction and refurbishments accounted for some of the gain, so, too, have major government-funded projects such as light rail transit and the remaking of Parliament Hill.

The only other industry group to post significant job increases since 2019 was manufacturing, of which high-tech is a big component. The net gain in employment was 6,100 to 27,800. (StatsCan compiles a separate estimate of high-tech jobs from a number of different sectors including manufacturing and professional services. This shows tech employment was 43,300 in August, down about 10 per cent from two years earlier.)

Five of the 12 main industries have yet to recover their employment levels of August 2019.

Most affected were hotels and restaurants, which employed 32,100 in August compared to 41,000 in the same month two years earlier. The professional services sector had a similar net loss as employment slipped to 80,800 from 88,500.

However, the drop in percentage terms was far more severe in the case of hotels and restaurants, down 22 per cent over two years compared to a 10 per cent decline for those in professional services.

Other job sectors witnessing employment declines were: transportation (down 4,600 or 15 per cent); wholesale and retail (a drop of 4,900 or five per cent); and health care (a slippage of 4,400 or 4.4 per cent).

In each case, the pandemic was directly to blame as bus, rail and airline companies cut staff, some retailers were forced to shut their doors or offer limited service and medical staff in hospitals and elsewhere suffered burnout.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, StatsCan estimated the capital region's jobless rate at 6.2 per cent, down from 7.1 per cent in July, reflecting a net decline of 3,300 jobs, but an even steeper drop of 12,100 in the size of the labour force, which includes people looking for work.

The unemployment rate, however, is still well off the 4.8 per cent tally from August 2019.