Job openings were up by 5% in April over March. While a 5% increase in job postings is smaller than the 11% gain that we saw in March over February, it is still an indicator of continued gains in employment in Canada.

This contrasts this morning’s Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada which shows that the Canadian economy shed 29,000 jobs last month. (This while the province of Saskatchewan has hit the lowest level of unemployment since records have been kept.)

We’ve seen this cycle in Labour Force reports since the end of the recession – economists surprised by a surge in job creation one month – then caught off guard by sudden losses the next.

If you look at the longer term trend, you can see a steady increase in employment from 2009 until now.

This is also why Workopolis looks at the numbers of online job postings and other economic indicators to give more context to the Labour Force Survey. All of our indicators show that this increased hiring is continuing, and there should be slow and steady gains in employment over the coming months.

Nationally, job openings were up 16% compared to the same time last year. The growth in online job postings, as well as other key economic indicators that we watch closely, continue to show positive signs. Workopolis is forecasting modest increases in employment to continue throughout the month of May and into the summer months.

Regionally:

The largest increases in job openings were posted in Ontario and the West. These regions were up by 24 per cent and 28 per cent year-over-year respectively. The number of job postings in Quebec was unchanged month-over-month, but down 11 per cent compared with April of 2013.

Sectors:

There were increases in job postings for almost every industry last month, with hiring only in the Engineering, Architecture, Science & Technology sector remaining flat year-over-year.

Hospitality continues to be the occupation that is seeing the greatest increases in job openings nationally, up 31 per cent over this time last year. Most of this hiring is being seen in the West and in Ontario.

The fastest growing opportunities are for:

The Healthcare industry continues to see a solid demand for workers, with job openings up by 17 per cent year-over year. The fastest growing opportunities are for:

The top 5 Healthcare jobs posted over the past 12 months:

Hiring has slowed down in the Retail trade, with only a 3% increase in job postings compared with one year earlier.

The greatest decline in job openings in this sector is for positions such as:

The most available job openings in online job postings nationally:

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Peter Harris
– Peter Harris on Twitter

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