As Canada’s labour markets continue to recover from the recession, the percentage of unfilled private sector jobs increased slightly from 2.3% in the second quarter to 2.4% in the third quarter, according to data compiled by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
This is good news for job seekers but bad news for employer recruitment strategies and talent searches. Job vacancies are defined as openings that have been vacant for at least four months because business owners have been unable to find suitable employees.
“Job vacancies have increased at the same pace as the economy has grown,” said Ted Mallett, CFIB’s chief economist and vice-president. “The small gain in vacancies observed in the third quarter mirrors the slow growth in GDP.”
Overall, the vacancy rate has risen from 1.7% at the end of 2009, although it’s still down from where it was before the recession.
The third-quarter findings are based on more than 2,500 responses, collected from a stratified random sample of CFIB members, to a controlled-access web survey. The series is based on more than 72,000 responses going back to 2004.
You can find the survey in its entirety on the CFIB website.