Labour Force Survey Monthly
Labour Force Survey, April 2022
released May 6, 2022
Statistics Canada continues to closely monitor the impacts of COVID-19 on the Canadian labour market. Labour Force Survey (LFS) data for April 2022 reflect labour market conditions during the week of April 10 to 16. Since the February reference week, provinces have continued to ease public health restrictions. As of the April reference week (April 10 to 16), remaining capacity limits affecting business operations had generally been lifted, although some combination of masking, proof-of-vaccination, or testing remained a requirement in some settings in certain jurisdictions. Prince Edward Island eliminated its remaining capacity limitations, and mandatory point-of-entry screenings on April 6, 2022.
Nationally, the proportion of workers who report that they usually work exclusively from home continued to decline in April, down 1.7 percentage points to 19 per cent. At the same time, the share of workers who report hybrid work arrangements held steady in April at 5.8 per cent.
The labour underutilization rate—the proportion of people in the potential labour force who are unemployed; want a job but have not looked for one; or are employed but working less than half of their usual hours—increased to 15 per cent in April 2022. An increase in absences due to personal illness or disability contributed to more employed people working less than their usual hours.
For more information on the April 2022 results, please refer to the Statistics Canada April 2022 Labour Force Survey release.
Prince Edward Island Employment
Unemployment Rate By Province (seasonally adjusted, in percentage)
| Month | Can | NL | PE | NS | NB | QC | ON | MB | SK | AB | BC |
| April 2022 | 5.2 | 10.8 | 8.1 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 3.9 | 5.4 | 5.0 | 5.5 | 5.9 | 5.4 |
| March 2022 | 5.3 | 12.9 | 8.1 | 6.5 | 7.7 | 4.1 | 5.3 | 5.3 | 5.0 | 6.5 | 5.1 |
| April 2021 | 8.0 | 13.4 | 8.3 | 8.0 | 8.6 | 6.5 | 8.9 | 7.3 | 6.5 | 8.9 | 7.1 |
| Year-over-year change (pp) | -2.8 | -2.6 | -0.2 | -2.0 | -1.6 | -2.6 | -3.5 | -2.3 | -1.0 | -3.0 | -1.7 |
| Monthly change (pp) | -0.1 | -2.1 | 0.0 | -0.5 | -0.7 | -0.2 | 0.1 | -0.3 | 0.5 | -0.6 | 0.3 |
Summary
Statistics Canada’s LFS shows P.E.I.’s seasonally adjusted employment in April totaled 84,500. This is an increase of 5,600 from one year ago and a decrease of 200 from March 2022. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 8.1 per cent in April 2022, unchanged from last month and down 0.2 percentage points from April 2021. The total labour force declined by 100 persons to 92,100 while employment also declined.
The year-over-year increase in employment was due to an increase of 4,100 (6.4 per cent) in full-time employment, while part-time employment rose by 1,500 (9.0 per cent). The services sector saw an increase of 3,000 as compared to April 2021, while the goods-producing sector increased by 2,700 over the same period (see table below for year-over-year employment gains and losses by industry).
The number of unemployed persons in April on Prince Edward Island was 7,500, unchanged from one month ago and up 400 compared to April 2021. The labour force participation rate in March was 66.7 per cent, an increase of 2.3 percentage points from one year ago.
The three-month moving average unemployment rate used by the Employment Insurance program for the Charlottetown region was 8.1 per cent in April, unchanged from March 2022. There is no change in EI eligibility criteria in this region. The rate in the PEI region in April was 8.2 per cent, down from 9.4 per cent in March. This results in a decrease of the minimum draw period from 18 to 16 weeks while the hours needed to qualify for EI in this region remains at 420 hours. For more information, please refer to Employment Insurance (EI) - Canada.ca.
Nationally, employment was little changed in April, up 0.1 per cent. The unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage points to 5.2 per cent, the lowest rate on record since comparable data became available in 1976. Employment was virtually unchanged in both the goods-producing and services-producing sectors in April. Employment increased in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and Alberta while it declined in Quebec.
National average hourly wages for employees rose 3.3 per cent ($0.99) on a year-over-year basis in April, similar to the 3.4 per cent growth observed in March. By province, year-over-year wage growth was highest in April in New Brunswick (8.2 per cent; $2.05), Newfoundland and Labrador (6.6 per cent; $1.82) and Quebec (5.7 per cent; $1.62). Average hourly wages grew by 5.0 per cent ($1.27) year-over-year in Prince Edward Island.
Unadjusted for seasonality, the national three-month moving average unemployment rate in April was 5.7 per cent. The rate for population groups designated as visible minorities was 6.6 per cent. The rate remains higher than the average for some groups, including Black Canadians at 9.2 per cent and Arab Canadians at 8.9 per cent.
Employment gains (+)/ losses (-) between April 2021 and April 2022 occurred in the following sectors on Prince Edward Island:
| Goods-producing sector | 2,700 | Service-providing sector | 3,000 | |
| Agriculture | -100 | Trade (Retail/Wholesale): | 700 | |
| Other Primary Industries | 100 | Transport & Warehousing: | -900 | |
| Manufacturing | 1,100 | Finance, Insurance, Real Estate: | -200 | |
| Construction | 1,500 | Business Services: | -100 | |
| Utilities | 100 | Professional, Scientific and Technical: | 600 | |
| Educational Services: | -100 | |||
| Health & Social Services: | 700 | |||
| Public Administration: | 1,200 | |||
| Information, Culture and Recreation: | 500 | |||
| Accommodation & Food services: | 500 | |||
| Other Services: | 100 |
PEI Unemployment Rate
(Seasonally Adjusted)
Gender Impacts of COVID-19 and the Provincial Labour Market Situation
Employment levels declined slightly in April 2022. Employment in April was at 103.3 per cent of pre-COVID employment, a decline of 0.2 percentage point from March 2022. For the eighth consecutive month, core aged workers (workers aged 24-55) achieved a level of employment exceeding pre-COVID employment, at 106.8 per cent of pre-COVID employment. This is an improvement of 1.0 percentage point from March. Youth (aged 15-24), saw employment decline to 97 per cent of its pre-COVID level in April, down 6.8 percentage points from March 2022. Older works (aged 55 years and up) saw an improvement in employment levels in April at 99 per cent, up 0.5 percentage points from March. The declines in the overall employment situation in April were driven by declines in female employment, and youth employment more generally.
As can be seen in the figure below, female employment was at 98.3 per cent of pre-COVID employment in April, a decline of 1.7 percentage points from March. All broad groups of female employment recorded declines in April. Females aged 25- 54 saw their level of pre-COVID employment decrease to 101.2 per cent in April. This is a decrease of 0.4 percentage points from March. Females aged 15-24 saw their level of pre-COVID employment decrease to 92.3 per cent, down 6.2 percentage points from March. Females aged 55 and over saw their level of pre-COVID employment decline by 2.1 percentage points to 94.8 per cent in April.
Employment of males aged 25-54 continued to increase in April to 112.6% of pre-pandemic levels an improvement of 2.5 percentage points from March. Males in this age group have largely had employment at or above pre-COVID levels since September 2020. The employment level of males aged 55+ improved by 3.8 percentage points to 102.8 per cent of pre-COVID levels. The employment level for males aged 15-24 declined by 7.4 percentage points to 101.5 per cent of pre-COVID levels. This is the fourth consecutive monthly decline in this age group, though employment levels remain in excess of pre-COVID employment.
* Components may not sum to total due to rounding
Notes:
1. The LFS estimates for April are for the week of April 10 to 16, 2022.
2. 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."
3. The next release of the LFS will be on June 10, 2022.
Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey Estimates, released May 6, 2022.
Related downloads for this release:
Monthly Labour Force Survey report - PDF (100KB)