Labour Force Survey and Market Trends, September 2022

The following information was released on October 7, 2022. Labour force survey results reflect the period from September 11-17, for more survey results, please click here. For full details on labour market trends, click here. 

Labour Market Trends – Construction Highlights

  • Industry of Employment (September 2022 vs September 2021, seasonally adjusted)
    • Over the last 12 months, employment has risen across almost all industries with the exceptions of agriculture, utilities, wholesale/retail, transportation, business support (including call centres), and public administration.
    • The largest employment gains were in construction, information/culture/recreation, and health/social assistance.
  • Industry of Employment (January-September 2022 vs January-September 2021, seasonally adjusted)
    • On average over the first nine months of 2022 (compared with the same period last year), most industries reported employment gains.  The increase in year-to-date average employment was fastest for professional/technical services, health/social (including daycare) and construction.
  • Hours worked and employment (January-September 2022 vs January-September 2021, unadjusted)
    • Changes in unadjusted hours worked show different variations than changes in seasonally adjusted employment (comparing the average over the first nine months of 2022 with the same period in 2021).
    • Overall employment was up by 3.5% while hours were up by 3.7%.
    • In professional and technical services hours worked grew faster than employment while construction and information/culture/recreation hours are growing slower than employment.
Labour Force Survey Highlights

MONTH OVER MONTH (September 2022 vs August 2022, seasonally adjusted)

In Nova Scotia,

  • Labour force decreased 2,900 (-0.6%) to 512,000
  • Employment increased 4,300 (0.9%) to 480,200
  • Unemployment decreased 7,100 (-18.2%) to 31,900
  • Unemployment Rate decreased 1.4 percentage points to 6.2%

YEAR OVER YEAR (September 2022 vs September 2021)

In Nova Scotia,

  • Labour force increased 3,100 (0.6%)
  • Employment increased 12,500 (2.7%)
  • Unemployment decreased 9,300 (-22.6%)
  • Unemployment rate decreased 1.9 percentage points