Insights for the construction industry from February 2024
Labour market trends, February 2024
The following was shared by the Economics and Statistics Division on March 8, 2024. To find more information from this dataset, click here for the full release.
Nova Scotia’s seasonally adjusted employment increased by 6,300 (+1.2%) to 517,900 in February 2024. With employment growth outpacing labour force growth, Nova Scotia’s unemployment rate declined 1.0 percentage point to 6.0% in February 2024.
Compared with February 2023, Nova Scotia’s population over the age of 15 increased by 27,100 (+3.2%), while the labour force grew by 24,200 (+4.6%), and employment increased by 21,600 (+4.4%).
Over the last 12 months, employment was up in most sectors with the largest gains in wholesale or retail trade and education. There were notable employment declines in construction, forestry, fishing and mining.
Housing starts, February 2024
The following was shared by the Economics and Statistics Division on March 18, 2024. To find more information from this dataset, click here for the full release.
Monthly (February 2024 vs January 2024, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)
- Nova Scotia’s housing starts (seasonally adjusted annualized rate) totalled 12,919 units in February 2024.
- This was the second-largest number of monthly housing starts in records dating back to 1990.
- Housing starts in Halifax increased to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 10,967 units in February 2024, up 155.1% from 4,299 units in January 2024.
- Outside of Halifax, housing starts contracted to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1,952 units in February 2024, down 26.9% from 2,669 units in January 2024.
Year-over-year (February 2024 vs February 2023, seasonally adjusted annualized rate)
- Nova Scotia’s housing starts were up 184.3% compared with February 2023 – the fastest percentage gain among provinces.
- Halifax housing starts were 361.8% above their level from February 2023.
- Housing starts outside the city were down 10.0% year-over-year.
- Over the first two months of 2024, Nova Scotia’s housing starts were up 144.1% compared with the same period in 2023.
Building construction, January 2024
The following was shared by the Economics and Statistics Division on March 18, 2024. To find more information from this dataset, click here for the full release.
Monthly (January 2024 vs December 2023, seasonally adjusted)
- Investment in Nova Scotia building construction decreased 0.7% in January 2024 to $503.4 million.
- Halifax monthly building construction decreased by 7.7% to $235.6 million and outside of Halifax building construction was up 6.4% to $267.9 million.
- Nova Scotia’s non-residential building construction increased 1.5% to $89.8 million.
Year-over-year (January 2024 vs January 2023)
- Compared to January 2023, building construction investment was up 28.0% in Nova Scotia.
- Halifax construction activity was up 19.2% and outside of Halifax construction activity was up 36.8%.
- Nova Scotia’s non-residential construction was up 37.6% compared to January 2023.
- Seven provinces reported increases, with the largest increase in Nova Scotia.
Trends
- Halifax commercial building construction has been on an increasing trend since the end of 2021.
- More recently, industrial and government/institutional construction have also started to rise in Halifax.