Labour Market Bulletin - Newfoundland and Labrador: October 2022

This Labour Market Bulletin provides an analysis of Labour Force Survey results for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, including the regions of Avalon Peninsula, South Coast-Burin Peninsula and Notre Dame-Central Bonavista Bay, and West Coast-Northern Peninsula-Labrador.

Overview

In October, the unemployment rate moved higher as the size of the labour force grew faster than employment. Compared to a year ago, the province has added 12,500 jobs, lowering the unemployment rate by four percentage points. The rate of employment growth over the past year (+5.7%) was the second highest among all provinces.

Newfoundland and Labrador monthly labour force statistics
Seasonally adjusted
monthly data
Oct 2022 Sep 2022 Oct 2021 Monthly variation Yearly variation
Number % Number %
Population 15 + ('000) 449.9 449.6 445.5 0.3 0.1 4.4 1.0
Labour force ('000) 259.4 253.5 256.7 5.9 2.3 2.7 1.1
Employment ('000) 232.6 229.3 220.1 3.3 1.4 12.5 5.7
Full-time ('000) 194.9 193.4 186.8 1.5 0.8 8.1 4.3
Part-time ('000) 37.7 35.9 33.3 1.8 5.0 4.4 13.2
Unemployment ('000) 26.8 24.2 36.6 2.6 10.7 -9.8 -26.8
Unemployment rate (%) 10.3 9.5 14.3 0.8 - -4.0 -
Participation rate (%) 57.7 56.4 57.6 1.3 - 0.1 -
Employment rate (%) 51.7 51.0 49.4 0.7 - 2.3 -

Note: Totals may not add due to rounding

Source: Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey - Table 14-10-0287

Between October of 2020 and January of 2022, employment and the unemployment rate were generally steady. The one notable exception was in February of 2021, when COVID-19 cases increased considerably and brought enhanced restrictions and closures. Since February of 2022, employment levels have been notably higher. Much of this increase can be attributed to the lifting of public health restrictions. Over the past six months, the unemployment rate has remained near 10% as employment and labour force size have generally moved in line with each other.

Newfoundland and Labrador monthly employment and unemployment rate
Newfoundland and Labrador monthly employment and unemployment rate
Show data table: Newfoundland and Labrador monthly employment and unemployment rate
Newfoundland and Labrador monthly employment and unemployment rate
Unemployment rate (%) Employment ('000)
Oct 2020 13.1 223.1
Nov 2020 13.0 222.0
Dec 2020 13.2 222.3
Jan 2021 13.0 220.7
Feb 2021 15.5 207.0
Mar 2021 12.7 220.4
Apr 2021 13.4 221.1
May 2021 13.1 220.7
Jun 2021 12.3 221.0
Jul 2021 12.3 220.5
Aug 2021 12.2 221.8
Sep 2021 13.0 221.7
Oct 2021 14.3 220.1
Nov 2021 11.0 224.3
Dec 2021 11.9 223.1
Jan 2022 12.8 219.2
Feb 2022 12.3 228.7
Mar 2022 12.9 225.8
Apr 2022 10.8 228.3
May 2022 10.0 232.4
Jun 2022 9.9 228.1
Jul 2022 10.2 227.0
Aug 2022 10.5 228.8
Sep 2022 9.5 229.3
Oct 2022 10.3 232.6

Source: Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey

The unemployment rate for youth (ages 15 to 24 years) increased by four percentage points compared to the previous month. While employment gains were made (+2,800), this was notably less than the increase in labour force size (+4,700). Compared to a year ago, an increase in youth employment (+2,800) has outpaced the growth in labour force size (+1,300), reducing the unemployment rate. Part-time work among youth reached a record high in October.

For those aged 25 years and older, the labour force grew slightly faster than employment. This resulted in a marginally higher unemployment rate compared to the previous month. Compared to a year earlier, employment growth for females (+4,800) outpaced labour force growth (+3,900), lowering this group’s unemployment rate slightly. However, the situation was different for males. While employment increased (+4,900) from a year ago, there were fewer people in the labour force (-2,500). This caused the unemployment rate for males of this age group to fall by 6.2 percentage points.

Newfoundland and Labrador monthly unemployment rates, by gender and age
Seasonally adjusted data Oct 2022 (%) Sep 2022 (%) Oct 2021 (%) Monthly variation
(% points)
Yearly variation
(% points)
Total 10.3 9.5 14.3 0.8 -4.0
25 years and over 9.6 9.3 13.4 0.3 -3.8
Men - 25 years and over 11.8 11.2 18.0 0.6 -6.2
Women - 25 years and over 7.2 7.4 8.3 -0.2 -1.1
15 to 24 years 15.0 11.0 19.5 4.0 -4.5
Men - 15 to 24 years 16.6 13.6 23.0 3.0 -6.4
Women - 15 to 24 years 13.3 7.7 15.7 5.6 -2.4

Source: Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey - Table 14-10-0287

Employment by industry

Employment growth was led by the services-producing sector (+6,900). This sector has also been the key source of the province’s job gains over the past year, adding 15,300 jobs over this period. Accommodation and food services led monthly job growth (+1,700). Health care and social assistance (+1,400), public administration (+1,200), and professional, scientific, and technical services (+700) reached new highs in October. Compared to a year ago, three industries in this sector had employment growth of approximately 40%.

In contrast, the goods-producing sector produced both monthly (-3,600) and yearly (-2,900) employment losses. While construction employment was only slightly below its level from a year earlier, both manufacturing as well as forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, and oil and gas were more than 10% lower than in October of 2021.

Newfoundland and Labrador monthly labour force statistics, by industry
Seasonally adjusted data ('000) Oct 2022 Sep 2022 Oct 2021 Monthly variation Yearly variation
Number % Number %
Total employed, all industries 232.6 229.3 220.1 3.3 1.4 12.5 5.7
Goods-producing sector 41.4 45.0 44.3 -3.6 -8.0 -2.9 -6.5
Agriculture 1.0 0.6 0.8 0.4 66.7 0.2 25.0
Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas 13.3 14.8 14.9 -1.5 -10.1 -1.6 -10.7
Utilities 1.4 1.4 1.5 0.0 0.0 -0.1 -6.7
Construction 16.2 17.4 16.6 -1.2 -6.9 -0.4 -2.4
Manufacturing 9.4 10.9 10.6 -1.5 -13.8 -1.2 -11.3
Services-producing sector 191.1 184.2 175.8 6.9 3.7 15.3 8.7
Trade 37.4 36.5 37.9 0.9 2.5 -0.5 -1.3
Transportation and warehousing 13.0 12.6 9.3 0.4 3.2 3.7 39.8
Finance, insurance, real estate and leasing 8.1 8.1 5.8 0.0 0.0 2.3 39.7
Professional, scientific and technical services 12.1 11.4 11.3 0.7 6.1 0.8 7.1
Business, building and other support services 5.0 5.3 6.7 -0.3 -5.7 -1.7 -25.4
Educational services 17.6 17.0 18.5 0.6 3.5 -0.9 -4.9
Health care and social assistance 45.3 43.9 41.3 1.4 3.2 4.0 9.7
Information, culture and recreation 6.2 5.9 7.1 0.3 5.1 -0.9 -12.7
Accommodation and food services 15.9 14.2 11.2 1.7 12.0 4.7 42.0
Other services 8.6 8.6 7.0 0.0 0.0 1.6 22.9
Public administration 21.9 20.7 19.7 1.2 5.8 2.2 11.2

Note: Totals may not add due to rounding

Source: Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey - Table 14-10-0355

Regional analysis

Compared to a year ago, employment increased in all three of the province’s economic regions. This contributed to declines in the unemployment rate throughout the province.

The Avalon Peninsula led employment growth (+7,700), mainly in full-time positions (+4,300). Labour force growth was also strong (+5,400). The unemployment rate has fallen for eighteen consecutive months, mainly due to employment gains. Compared to a year ago, accommodation and food services (+4,500) led all industries in employment growth. This was its seventh consecutive increase following declines in every month since the start of the COVID-10 pandemic. Public administration (+2,400), wholesale and retail trade (+1,800), and transportation and warehousing (+1,600) all showed notable gains as well. Losses were widespread in the goods-producing sector, with construction (-700) showing its first loss since July of 2021.

In the South Coast–Burin Peninsula and Notre Dame-Central-Bonavista Bay economic region, employment rose slightly (+600) while there were fewer people in the labour force (-2,000). This lowered the unemployment rate by 3.9 percentage points compared to a year earlier. Full-time employment gains outweighed part-time losses. Employment more than doubled compared to twelve months earlier in transportation and warehousing (+2,100), and finance, insurance, real estate and leasing (+900). Wholesale and retail trade (-1,800) led industries that had a decline.  Information, culture and recreation (-600) lost jobs for the third consecutive month. Employment in this industry was down by 43% compared to October of 2021.

In the West Coast-Northern Peninsula-Labrador economic region, employment growth (+2,400) outpaced an increase in labour force size (+700). As a result, the unemployment rate fell by 3.5 percentage points compared to a year earlier. Employment gains were mainly in full-time positions. The goods-producing sector (+4,100) led the increase in jobs. Forestry, fishing, mining, oil and gas (+2,000), construction (+1,100) and manufacturing (+900) all had strong growth. The services-producing sector lost jobs (-1,800) led by a decline in public administration (-1,600). However, health care and social assistance showed strong growth (+1,000), and professional, scientific, and technical services (+900) more than doubled its employment level of a year earlier.

Newfoundland and Labrador monthly labour force statistics, by economic region
3-Month Moving Averages Seasonally Unadjusted Data Employment Unemployment rate
Oct 2022
('000)
Oct 2021
('000)
Yearly
variation
(%)
Oct 2022
(%)
Oct 2021
(%)
Yearly
variation
(% points)
Newfoundland and Labrador 237.3 226.7 4.7 8.9 11.6 -2.7
Economic regions
Avalon Peninsula 140.7 133.0 5.8 6.9 8.7 -1.8
South Coast-Burin Peninsula and Notre Dame-Central Bonavista Bay 51.2 50.6 1.2 11.3 15.2 -3.9
West Coast-Northern Peninsula-Labrador 45.5 43.1 5.6 12.2 15.7 -3.5

Note: Totals may not add due to rounding

Source: Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey - Table 14-10-0387

Note

In preparing this document, the authors have taken care to provide clients with labour market information that is timely and accurate at the time of publication. Since labour market conditions are dynamic, some of the information presented here may have changed since this document was published. Users are encouraged to also refer to other sources for additional information on the local economy and labour market. Information contained in this document does not necessarily reflect official policies of Employment and Social Development Canada.

Prepared by: Labour Market Analysis Directorate, Service Canada, Atlantic Region
For further information, please contact the LMI team.
For information on the Labour Force Survey, please visit the Statistics Canada website.

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