Payrolls edged higher again in May, while job vacancies remained flat, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
In a report published Thursday, the national statistical agency said employment numbers rose by 24,100 in May, which came on the heels of an increase of 59,000 in April.
On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment was up by 112,500 in May, an increase of 0.6%.
With 495,700 unfilled jobs in May, the number of job vacancies was essentially unchanged on a monthly basis. Job vacancies were little changed over the past year too.
Total labour demand, which represents the total of filled and unfilled jobs, increased by 0.3% month over month in May.
On a year-over-year basis, total demand was up 0.8%, Statistic Canada noted — an increase driven largely by rising payroll numbers.
Average weekly earnings were up by 3.4% on a year-over-year basis in May, which is a bit slower than the 3.7% rise recorded in April, the agency reported.