This post is updated as of August 4, reflecting data through July 31. We will be regularly updating this data as we track how COVID-19 impacts the global labour market. 

Key points:

  • As of July 31st, the trend in total job postings on Indeed Canada stood at 26% below last year’s pace, continuing its gradual, but incomplete rebound. 
  • The gap in new postings narrowed to 1% below 2019’s path from -13% a week earlier. The improvement primarily reflected a dip in last year’s trend, but there were still gains during the week.

Total job postings on Indeed Canada rose compared to last year’s trend last week, as of Friday, July 31th, standing 26% below 2019 levels. The gap was -30% the previous Friday, up from -49% in early May. While there’s been nearly three months of progress, a full recovery in job postings remains elusive.

Line graph shows Canadian job postings gradually recovering.
Line graph titled “Canadian job postings gradually recovering.” With a vertical axis ranging from -60% to 10%, the graph shows the Indeed Canada total job postings, 2020 vs 2019 % gap in trend through July 31 (Indexed to Feb-01, 7-day avg.) Data labels highlight every-other Friday since mid-March. Line was flat at 0% through February, and started to drop in the beginning of March. Line dropped down to -49% at the end of April and through May 08. It rose again from May through July 31, to -26%. Caption added post-publication.

The ongoing narrowing of the total postings gap reflects a more substantial rebound in new postings. The trend in new postings narrowed sharply to just 1% below last year’s level, compared to -13% the week prior. Most of the closing gap over the past week reflected a drop in the 2019 trend, but there was still some progress in this year’s numbers too. The rate at which new jobs are being posted remains sufficient to maintain the recovery in total job postings, helping improve the outlook for Canadian job seekers. 

Line graph shows new job postings finally approaching last year's trend.
Line graph titled “New job postings finally approaching last year’s trend.” With a vertical axis of -75% to 30%, the graph shows the Indeed Canada new job postings, 2020 vs 2019 % gap in trend through July 31 (Indexed to Feb-01, 7-day avg.) Data labels highlight every-other Friday since mid-March. Line was at 15% on February 14, and started to slowly drop. The line took a steep drop in the beginning of March and continued to drop down to near -75% at the end of April 17. It rose back up to -1% on July 31. Caption added post-publication.

Total postings gap narrower in small provinces

While no province has fully closed the gap in total postings compared to last year’s trend, there’s been progress across the country. As has been the case throughout the crisis, posting trends are closer to 2019 levels in less populous provinces, where gaps are now less than 23% across the board. Meanwhile, posting trends are a bit further from trend in the larger provinces, with part of Quebec’s larger than average gap reflecting a particularly strong 2019.

Table shows total postings closer to last year's trend in smaller provinces.
Table graph titled “Total postings closer to last year’s trend in smaller provinces”. Table compares the 2020 vs. 2019 % gap in trend through July 31 (7-day avg.) and ppt. chg since May 8 between 11 provinces. P.E.I had the smallest % gap trend at -12% and a ppt. chg of +38%. Quebec had the largest % gap trend at -30%, with a ppt. chg of +19%. Canada total had a -26% gap in trend, with +23% ppt. Chg. Caption added post-publication.

The public health situation and its economic spillovers continue to change on a daily basis. We’ll be regularly updating this data as conditions evolve.

Methodology

To measure the trends in job postings, we calculated the 7-day moving average of the number of job postings on Indeed Canada. We index each day’s 7-day moving average to the start of February (Feb 1, 2020 = 100 for 2020 data, and so on).

We report how the trend in job postings this year differs from last year, in order to focus on the recent changes in labor market conditions due to COVID-19. For example: if job postings increased 30% from February 1, 2019, to April 10, 2019, but only 20% from February 1, 2020, to April 10, 2020, then the index would have risen from 100 to 130 in 2019 and 100 to 120 in 2020. The year-to-date trend in job postings would therefore be down 7.7% on April 10 (120 is 7.7% below 130) in 2020 relative to 2019.

For new postings, we calculate a similar metric but the underlying measure is the number of postings that have been on Indeed for seven days or less.

The number of job postings on Indeed.com, whether related to paid or unpaid job solicitations, is not indicative of potential revenue or earnings of Indeed, which comprises a significant percentage of the HR Technology segment of its parent company, Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd. Job posting numbers are provided for information purposes only and should not be viewed as an indicator of performance of Indeed or Recruit. Please refer to the Recruit Holdings investor relations website and regulatory filings in Japan for more detailed information on revenue generation by Recruit’s HR Technology segment.