Labour Force Survey Monthly
Labour Force Survey, April 2019
released May 10, 2019
Prince Edward Island Employment
| Month | Can | NL | PE | NS | NB | QC | ON | MB | SK | AB | BC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2019 | 5.7 | 11.7 | 8.6 | 6.9 | 8.0 | 4.9 | 6.0 | 5.2 | 5.4 | 6.7 | 4.6 |
| March 2019 | 5.8 | 11.5 | 8.9 | 6.2 | 7.9 | 5.2 | 5.9 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 6.9 | 4.7 |
| April 2018 | 5.9 | 14.5 | 10.8 | 6.9 | 7.9 | 5.4 | 5.6 | 6.2 | 6.4 | 6.7 | 5.1 |
| Year-over-Year change (pp) | -0.2 | -2.8 | -2,2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -0.5 | 0.4 | -1.0 | -1.0 | 0.0 | -0.5 |
| Monthly change (pp) | -0.1 | 0.2 | -0.3 | 0.7 | 0.1 | -0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.5 | -0.2 | -0.1 |
Summary
Today’s Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey shows that P.E.I.’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 8.6 per cent in April 2019. This is down 0.3 percentage points from last month and down 2.2 percentage points from April 2018. Seasonally adjusted employment in April totalled 77,800, a new all-time high for Prince Edward Island. This is an increase of 2,600 from one year ago and up by 800 from March 2019. The annual increase was a result of an increase of 2,300 in full-time employment while part-time employment increased by 300. The number of unemployed persons on Prince Edward Island decreased to 7,300, down by 200 from one month ago and down by 1,800 from April 2018. The labour force participation rate stood at 66.6 in April, down 0.8 percentage points from April 2018. The total labour force increased by 800 from April 2018 to total 85,100.
The three-month moving average unemployment rate used by the Employment Insurance program for the Charlottetown region decreased to 6.8 per cent in April, down from 7.1 per cent in March. This results in an increase in the hours needed to qualify for EI in this region, from 630 to 665 hours and decreases the minimum draw period from 17 to 15 weeks. The rate in the PEI region in April was 12.2 per cent, up from 12.0 per cent in March. This results in a decrease in the hours needed to qualify for EI in this region, from 490 to 455 hours and increases the minimum draw period from 23 to 24 weeks.
Nationally, employment increased by 107,000 in April and the unemployment rate decreased 0.1 percentage points to 5.7 per cent. Employment gains were due to an increase of 73,000 in full-time employment, while part-time employment increased by 34,000.
Notable employment increases occurred in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, and Prince Edward Island, while New Brunswick showed a notable decline.
Employment gains (+)/ losses (-) between April 2018 and April 2019 occurred in the following sectors on Prince Edward Island [1] :
|
Goods-producing sector: |
+1,600 |
Service-providing sector: |
+1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Agriculture: |
+400 |
Trade (Retail/Wholesale): |
+100 |
|
Other Primary Industries: |
+300 |
Transport & Warehousing: |
+800 |
|
Manufacturing: |
+100 |
Finance, Insurance, Real Estate: |
-100 |
|
Construction: |
+700 |
Business Services: |
+500 |
|
Utilities: |
+100 |
Professional, Scientific and Technical: |
-400 |
|
|
|
Educational Services: |
-100 |
|
|
|
Health & Social Services: |
+200 |
|
|
|
Public Administration: |
+900 |
|
|
|
Information, Culture and Recreation: |
-900 |
|
|
|
Accommodation & Food services: |
-400 |
| Other Services: | +500 |
[1] Components may not sum to total due to rounding
PEI Unemployment Rate
(Seasonally Adjusted)
Notes:
- The LFS estimates for April are for the week of April 14 to 20, 2019.
- The LFS estimates are based on a sample and are therefore subject to sampling variability. For more information, see the Statistics Canada publication "Interpreting Monthly Changes in Employment from the Labour Force Survey."
- The next release of the LFS will be on June 7, 2019.
Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey Estimates, released May 10, 2019.
Related downloads for this release:
Monthly Labour Force Survey report - PDF (100KB)
General Inquiries
Department of Finance
2nd Floor South, Shaw Building
95 Rochford Street
P.O. Box 2000
Charlottetown, PE, C1A 7N8
Phone: (902) 368-4040
Fax: (902) 368-6575