Labour Force Survey Monthly

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Labour Force Survey, March 2018

released April 6, 2018

 

Prince Edward Island Employment

 

March Unemployment Rate by Province
(seasonally adjusted, in percentage)

Month	Can	NL	PE	NS	NB	QC	ON	MB	SK	AB	BC
March 2018	5.8	14.2	10.3	7.4	8.0	5.6	5.5	6.2	5.8	6.3	4.7
February 2018	5.8	14.0	10.1	7.9	8.2	5.6	5.5	5.9	5.6	6.7	4.7
March 2017	6.6	14.9	10.0	8.5	8.3	6.3	6.3	5.5	6.1	8.3	5.3
Annual change (pp)	-0.8	-0.7	0.3	-1.1	-0.3	-0.7	-0.8	0.7	-0.3	-2.0	-0.6
Monthly change (pp)	0.0	0.2	0.2	-0.5	-0.2	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.2	-0.4	0.0

Summary

Statistics Canada's latest release of the Labour Force Survey shows that P.E.I.’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 10.3 per cent in March 2018. This is up 0.2 percentage points from last month and up 0.3 percentage points from March 2017. Seasonally adjusted employment in March totaled 75,200, an increase of 2,200 from one year ago and down by 200 from February 2018. At 3.0 per cent, this was the largest year over year percentage increase in employment among provinces, followed by Quebec at 2.0 per cent. The annual increase was a result of an increase of 400 in full-time employment while part-time employment increased by 1,700. The number of unemployed persons on Prince Edward Island increased to 8,600, up by 100 from one month ago and up by 500 from March 2017. The labour force participation rate stood at 67.1 in March, up 1.2 percentage points from March 2017. The total labour force increased by 2,700 from March 2017 to total 83,800.

 

The three-month moving average unemployment rate used by the Employment Insurance program for the Charlottetown region increased to 6.7 per cent in March, up from 6.5 per cent in February. The rate in the PEI region in March was 13.8 per cent, up from 13.7 per cent in February. There is no change in EI eligibility criteria in either region.

 

Nationally, employment increased by 32,000 in March. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.8 per cent. Employment gains were due to an increase of 68,300 in full-time employment, while part-time employment declined by 35,900. Notable employment increases occurred in Quebec and Saskatchewan with little change in other provinces.

 

Employment gains (+)/ losses (-) between March 2017 and March 2018 occurred in the following sectors on Prince Edward Island:

Goods-producing sector:	+2,100	Service-providing sector:	+100
Agriculture:	+1,000	Trade (Retail/Wholesale):	+900
Other Primary Industries:	+100	Transport & Warehousing:	-800
Manufacturing:	+200	Finance, Insurance, Real Estate:	+400
Construction:	+800	Business Services:	-200
Utilities:	-100	Professional, Scientific and Technical:	0
		Educational Services:	+200
		Health & Social Services:	+500
		Public Administration:	-600
		Information, Culture and Recreation:	-100
		Accommodation & Food services:	+100
		Other Services:	-100

 

(Components may not sum to total due to rounding)

x: Suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act.

 

PEI Unemployment Rate                                                                                                                                          

(Seasonally Adjusted)

 

Notes:

1. The LFS estimates for March are for the week of March 11 to 17, 2018.
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 May 11, 2018.

 

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey Estimates, released April 6, 2018.

Related downloads for this release:

Monthly Labour Force Survey report - PDF (100KB)

Monthly Labour Force Survey data file - Excel (280KB)