Metropolitan Monthly Monitors: Metro Help-Wanted Index January 2011

The Canadian economy has slowed in recent months, and employment gains have been more modest as a result. The economy created over 300,000 jobs in the first half of 2010, but only 60,000 jobs in the second half of the year. That story was repeated in most Canadian cities last year. According to Signal49 Research’s Help-Wanted Index, job prospects remain dim in more than half. The near-term employment outlook is up in only 5 census metropolitan areas, stable in 7, and down in 15. All five of the CMAs with upbeat prospects are in Quebec. CMAs with stable prospects include St. John’s, St. Catharines–Niagara, Thunder Bay, and four of the eight Western Canadian CMAs. Prospects are down in 9 of the 11 Ontario CMAs. Prospects are also down in Halifax, Saint John, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Abbotsford, and Vancouver. Although prospects out West are mixed, cities in the region continue to experience some of the tightest labour markets in Canada.