Unemployment rising, job openings falling

REGINA — Saskatchewan’s unemployment- to- job- vacancies ratio — the number of unemployed persons for every job opening — rose to 3.5 in March from 1.9 in March 2013, as the number of job vacancies fell and the number of unemployed increased, Statistics Canada said in a report released Tuesday.

United Steelworkers economist Erin Weir said the rising unemployment-to-job-ratio shows “a significant deterioration in Saskatchewan’s job market over the past year.”

“Our province’s job vacancy rate fell from 2.7 per cent in March 2013 to 1.6 per cent in March 2014 and is now lower than in neighbouring Manitoba and Alberta,” Weir said in a commentary Tuesday. “Over the same period, Saskatchewan’s ratio of unemployed workers to available jobs jumped from 1.9 to 3.5, which is now higher than Manitoba or Alberta.”

Weir conceded that Saskatchewan’s unemployment rate is one of the lowest, if not the lowest, in the country, but the number of job openings is also decreasing. “While our official unemployment rate is low, the number of job opportunities is even lower.”

Nationally, businesses reported 206,000 job vacancies in March, down 17,000 compared with 12 months earlier. For every job vacancy, there were 6.8 unemployed people, up from 6.3 in March 2013, the result of fewer job vacancies.

The highest ratio in March was in Prince Edward Island, at 21.6 unemployed people for every job vacancy, up from 10.3 a year earlier. In Newfoundland and Labrador, the ratio fell from 21.4 unemployed people for every job vacancy in March 2013 to 12.8 in March 2014.

The unemployment-to-job-ratio also increased in Quebec where there were 10.1 unemployed people for every job vacancy, up from 7.5 in March 2013, as there were fewer job vacancies in the province.

In the remaining provinces, the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratios were little changed compared with March 2013.