Quebec's strong job market expected to continue as boomers retire, study says
Transport and warehousing saw most job growth in past year, retail lost most jobs
Baby boomers leaving the job market means Quebec's labour shortage is likely to continue over the next few years, according to a new study.
"Vacant jobs are at 80,000, it's really high, that means employers need workers," said Mia Homsy, the director of Institut du Québec, a public policy think tank.
Quebec's unemployment rate dropped from 6.4 per cent to 5.6 per cent between February 2017 and last month, the institute said.
A big factor in the unemployment rate, Homsy said, is the number of baby boomers retiring and leaving their positions open — a trend which will positively impact the job market for at least a few more years.
The institute also stated that employment in the public and private sectors is up and self-employment is down over the past year.
In particular, a total of 19,200 jobs were created in transport and warehouses over the past year, while 16,800 jobs were lost retail, according to the institute.
Their findings also show that despite the good news for unemployment, salaries are lagging.
"They're going up, but they're not going up as quickly as they did last year," Homsy said.