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Job hunters should consider growth areas of health care, science and technical services

[Getty Images]

Canadians looking for work or reconsidering their career options may want to ponder new job numbers showing growth in the health and social assistance industry and science and professional technical services.

Statistics Canada data released on Friday showed the economy added 40,600 positions in the month of March. The gain came from the services industry, a big portion of it in the health care and social assistance industry, as well as professional and technical services.

Amid economic weakness caused by the skid in oil prices, the health care and social assistance sector continued to add jobs, gaining 3.4 per cent, or 77,000 positions, from the same period a year earlier. The sector includes jobs in hospitals, nursing, long-term care and residential care, as well as health professionals like first responders, dentists, massage therapists and chiropractors.

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Leslie Preston, an economist with TD Bank, said the sector’s job gains appear to be part of a long-term shift toward an older demographic. Last year marked the first time that the number of people in Canada aged 65 and older exceeded those 14 and under.

“That would be a structural change in Canada’s economy that would be long-lasting as the population ages. We all consume most of our healthcare needs in the latter years of our lives,” Preston said. “That would be something we expect to be an area of strength going forward.”

Professional, scientific and technical services has been another strong area as StatsCan said the sector grew by 3.8 per cent, or 52,000 jobs, from the same month a year earlier. The sector includes professionals specializing in legal, accounting, architecture, engineering, design, marketing or computer systems work.

“That’s been a pretty strong growth area in the labour market for some time and we do think it’s probably going to be one that continues to show positive momentum,” said Dawn Desjardins, an economist for RBC. “Any of those professional services are continuing to see good demand, and that is drawing employment along.”

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business’ fourth-quarter job vacancy report, released this month, also showed higher employment vacancies in enterprise management, transportation, construction, personal services and hospitality.

Economists remain cautious about hiring this year, saying they expect growth to be soft.

The national unemployment rate dropped on Friday’s release, to 7.1 per cent from 7.3 per cent, though TD forecasts hiring will not keep pace with a growing labour force, causing an uptick in national unemployment before job creation quickens.

“We expect some moderation for the remaining of the year,” added National Bank economist Matthieu Arseneau, who was estimating a monthly average of 8,000 new jobs and continued weakness in energy-producing provinces. “There’s still some concern when we look at the Business Outlook Survey of the Bank of Canada showing below average hiring intentions.”

Economists were disappointed with the March employment numbers for the manufacturing sector, which declined by an estimated 31,800 positions, according to the StatsCan survey.

Benjamin Tal, an economist for CIBC, said in an interview before the jobs data were released that labour market improvement over time would be helped by “value-added” services provided by consultants, as opposed to job creation through new hires or factories.

“Even though the manufacturing sector will be healthy and there will be profits, this will not be translated directly into job creation,” he said. “A lot of people are being forced into self-employment, especially among young people. That’s another factor, and we’ll see the momentum rising.”

Tal said technology and the Internet have made it much easier to become an independent professional, providing professional or technical services like design, engineering or translation.

“(It’s) younger people creating their own jobs,” he said. “If you cannot find a job in marketing or high-tech, you create your own consulting company. You see it more and more, because the barriers to entry are much, much lower than they used to be.”

In January, Statistics Canada said self-employment had gained significantly through 2015, the same year the country posted a mild recession. It said self-employment last year had risen by 3.4 per cent, or 92,000 jobs, across several services.