Statistics Canada says job vacancies dropped below one million in July

An office is seen in this file photo. (Marc Mueller / Pexels)

Statistics Canada says the number of job vacancies in the country moved lower to slip below one million in July, but remained well above where they were a year earlier.

The agency says employers in Canada were actively recruiting for 964,000 vacant positions, down by 56,400 compared with June.

However, the total number of job vacancies in July was up 134,300 compared with July 2021.

The vacancies in the accommodation and food services industry was down 15.4 per cent or 26,200 at 143,600 in July after five consecutive monthly increases.

Meanwhile the number of vacancies in retail trade in July fell 11.9 per cent or 13,400 from June to 99,100.

Statistics Canada says the job vacancy rate, measured as the number of vacant positions as a proportion of total labour demand, was 5.4 per cent in July, down by 0.4 percentage points from June. The vacancy rate peaked at 6.0 per cent in April.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2022.