The number of job vacancies across all sectors in Canada decreased by 20,700 to 850,300 in November 2022, down from the peak of more than 1 million recorded in May 2022, the national statistical agency said,

Statistics Canada said on Thursday that job vacancies decreased in the professional, scientific and technical services as well as the healthcare and social assistance sectors, reports Xinhua news agency.

Job vacancies were up in construction, and little changed in accommodation and food services, retail trade and manufacturing, according to the agency.

The job vacancy rate, which corresponds to the number of vacant positions as a proportion of total labour demand, was 4.8 per cent in November 2022, the lowest rate since June 2021, the agency said.

There were 1.2 unemployed persons for every job vacancy in November 2022, virtually unchanged since August, but up slightly from the low of 1.0 in June.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio hovered around 2.2 from January 2019 to February 2020, Statistics Canada said.