There were 139,400 job vacancies in the second quarter of 2024, a decrease of 62,600 from the second quarter of last year, the institute said.
The majority of these vacancies, 55.7%, were in four industries: retail trade, manufacturing, accommodation and food services, and health care and social assistance.
However, despite these 139,400 vacancies, the Institute of Statistics points out that there were 230,900 people looking for work.
“In comparison, for this quarter, there are approximately 230,900 unemployed people, of whom 81,900 have at most a high school diploma, 91,600 have at least a post-secondary diploma and 57,500 have a university diploma,” noted the ISQ.
According to Véronique Proulx, President and CEO of Quebec Manufacturers and Exporters, the manufacturing sector has fewer vacant positions than before.
“The pressure is less than it was a year or two ago, but it is still very difficult in our sector,” said Ms. Proulx.
She also denounced the federal government’s recent decision to tighten the rules on temporary foreign workers.
“He came to cut off our access to temporary foreign workers, so he puts even more pressure on manufacturers and on the Quebec economy,” she added.
Nationally, the unemployment rate reached its highest level since May 2017, excluding the pandemic period, last August, climbing to 6.6% from 6.4% in July.
The number of unemployed people thus rose to 1.5 million last month, an increase of 22.9% compared to August 2023.
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