Another sign that the job market is cooling, the number of job vacancies has continued to decline in Canada since the start of the year.

There were 843,200 job vacancies in the first quarter of 2023, down 33,500 (-3.8%) from the same period last year, Statistics Canada reported on Tuesday. This is the third consecutive quarter of decline.

The number of job vacancies has been steadily declining since peaking at 984,000 in the second quarter of 2022. The 3.8% drop in the number of job vacancies in the first quarter comes on top of a 5% rise in the unemployment rate to 5.2% recorded in May, the first increase in nine months.

The number of job vacancies was little changed in Quebec in the first quarter and the unemployment rate fell slightly in May, from 4.1% to 4%. Vacancies are down in almost all sectors, with the exception of health.

The sales and service sector shows the largest decline, such as industries that require a low level of education.