The national job vacancy rate in Canada was 1.5 percent in March, down from 1.7 percent in the same month a year ago, Statistics Canada reported today. Canadian businesses had 221,000 job vacancies in March, a decrease of 24,000 from March 2012.

There were 6.4 unemployed people for every job vacancy in March, up from 5.9 in the same month a year ago, as the decline in vacancies was at a faster pace than the decline in unemployment.