The following is a breakdown of Ottawa employment numbers by industry since the arrival of COVID-19 in March 2020. This information was requested at the Finance and Economic Development Committee meeting of September 1, 2020, where an Information Report titled COVID-19 Economic Recovery Update was brought forward.
After several months of job losses, the month of July saw a 13,700-job rebound to 547,400 jobs (Ottawa-Gatineau, Ontario Part, 3-month moving average, unadjusted for seasonality). This brought Ottawa’s employed labour force to a net loss of 24,900 jobs since March 2020 (down approximately 4.35%).
The biggest areas of job loss have been in the Accommodations and Food Services Industry, Wholesale and Retail Industry, Professional, Scientific and Technical Services Industry, and Other Services Industry (excluding Public Administration).
The Accommodations and Food Services Industry in Ottawa saw 15,000 jobs lost between March and June, with a 4,600 job increase between June and July, for a net job loss of 10,400, or 33.9% from its 30,700 employment level in March.
The Wholesale and Retail Industry in Ottawa saw 11,500 jobs lost between March and June, with a 5,700 job increase between June and July, for a net job loss of 5,800, or 7.9% below its 73,400 employment level in March.
The Professional, Scientific and Technical Services Industry in Ottawa saw a 2,800 job decline between March and June, with a further 2,300 decline between June and July, for a total job loss of 5,200, or 8.1% below its 62,800 employment level in March.
The Other Services (excluding Public Administration) Industry saw a 1,800 job decline between March and June, with a further 3,200 decline between June and July, for a total job loss of 5,000, or 16.2% below its 30,800 employment level in March. This Industry includes such as areas as personal care services, general and routine maintenance on vehicles/machinery, etc.
The Educational Services Industry saw a 2,300 job decline between March and June, with a further 2,300 decline between June and July, for a total job loss of 4,600, or 9.8% below its 47,100 employment level in March.
It should be noted that employment numbers that are seasonally un-adjusted may include variations that are due to seasonal fluctuations and not structural or business-cycle related causes. Also, Statistics Canada notes that at the national level, unemployment rate data disguises significant variations across population groups such as between visible minorities and non-visible minority groups, and between female visible minority groups and male visible minority groups – unemployment among the visible minority and female visible minority groups being much higher.
While the one-month rebound seen in the Accommodations and Food Services Industry and Wholesale and Retail Industry are encouraging, the City cannot consider this a trend at this point. It is expected that the pace of economic recovery will be uneven and drawn out over the next several months, affecting every sector differently.