​September unemployment rate drops to 4.85%, says labour market planning board

In September, the unemployment rate in the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula Economic Region decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 4.8 per cent. The region sits at the second lowest unemployment rate in the province, behind Northwest Ontario. Meanwhile, the provincial unemployment rate remained unchanged this month at 8.3 per cent, both unadjusted for seasonality.

That’s the word from the Four County Labour Market Planning Board.

Employment in the region increased by 1,600 (one per cent) in September, with gains concentrated in full-time employment (plus-two per cent; plus-3,000), partially offset by losses in part-time employment (minus-five per cent; minus-1,400).

There were decreases in the goods-producing sector (minus-three per cent; -1,800) and increases in the services-producing sector (plus-four per cent; +3,300). The region’s overall population aged 15-plus increased by 200; whereas, the labour force size increased by 1,400 people, resulting in the number of people not in the labour force decreasing by 1,200. This increased the region’s participation rate by 0.4 percentage points to 58.6 per cent.

The region experienced an increase of 1,600 people in overall employment, with approximately +3,000 full-time employment gains and -1,400 losses in part-time employment recorded.

The goods-producing sector saw a decrease in overall employment numbers in September (-1,800 people, minus-three per cent), with the biggest loss in utilities (-1,400, -12 per cent), followed by manufacturing (-1,200, minus-five per cent) and agriculture (-200, -0.2%). On the other hand, construction experienced an employment increase (+800, plus-four per cent).

Overall employment in the services-producing sector saw an increase of four per cent (+3,300 people) in September. Business, building and other support services experienced the largest percentage growth in employment (+700, +22 per cent) followed by educational services (+900, +18 per cent), health care and social assistance (+2,600, +14 per cent) and information, culture and recreation (+700, +13 per cent). On the other hand, finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing experienced the largest percentage decrease in September (-1,200, -20 per cent) followed by transportation and warehousing (-400, -12 per cent) and other services (except public administration) (-500, minus-six per cent).

“There was little change to our overall unemployment rate this month, and we are seeing some positive indicators,” says Dana Soucie, executive director for the Four County Labour Market Planning Board. “With an increase in both full-time employment and participation rates, our region’s labour force is trending in the right direction.”

Current job postings for the Bruce, Grey, Huron, Perth region have increased over time since the pandemic and can be found at www.connect2JOBS.ca. The number of job postings currently exceeds 2,000.