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OTTAWA, Feb 11 (Reuters) - The number of job vacancies in
Canada fell to 401,000 in the third quarter, with two major
western provinces offering the most hope for people seeking
work, Statistics Canada data indicated on Thursday.
The federal agency showed a job vacancy rate of 2.6 percent,
down from 2.8 percent in the second quarter. By comparison,
Statistics Canada's labor force survey had shown an average of
1.34 million unemployed people in the third quarter.
Statscan had reported 437,400 job vacancies in the second
quarter.
Among the provinces, British Columbia in the far west showed
the highest vacancy rate of 3.4 percent. Oil-producer Alberta in
the west recorded the second highest rate at 3.1 percent.
The survey was the third of its type by Statscan. The
vacancy rate refers to the share of jobs that are not filled out
of all payroll positions available.