​February unemployment rate increases to 5.1%, says labour market planning board

In February, the unemployment rate in the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula Economic Region increased by 0.2 percentage points to 5.1 per cent yet remained the lowest unemployment rate in the province. Meanwhile, the provincial unemployment rate also increased 0.2 percentage points to 7.3 per cent, both unadjusted for seasonality.

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

Employment in the region decreased by 3,300 (-1.9 per cent) in February, with losses in both full-time employment (-1.5 per cent; -2,100) and part-time employment (-3.3 per cent; -1,300).

The region’s overall population, aged 15-plus, increased by 300; whereas, the labour force size decreased by 3,200 people. The number of people not in the labour force decreased by 3,400. This reduced the region’s participation rate by 1.2 percentage points to 62.3 per cent. Employment in the region increased in the services-producing sector (+0.8 per cent; +900) and decreased in the goods-producing sector (-6.4 per cent; -4,200).

Overall, employment in the services-producing sector saw an increase of 0.8 per cent (900 people) in February. Transportation and warehousing experienced the largest percentage growth (+400, +12.1 per cent) in employment, followed by finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing (+400, +7.3 per cent), wholesale and retail trade (+1,600, +6.7 per cent), and health care and social assistance (+1,100, +4.1 per cent).

On the other hand, professional, scientific and technical services experienced the biggest percentage decrease in employment (-1,300, -12.7 per cent), followed by other services (except public administration) (-1,000, 9.4 per cent) and public administration (-200, -4.5 per cent).

The goods-producing sector saw a decrease in overall employment numbers in February (-6.4 per cent; -4,200). Gains were experienced in manufacturing (+1.8 per cent, +300) and utilities (+0.8 per cent, +100); whereas, losses were seen in agriculture (-18.0 per cent, -2,000), and construction (-9.7 per cent, -2,400).

“We continue to experience a very low unemployment rate for our region but continue to see positive signs for our workforce,” says Dana Soucie, executive director of the Four County Labour Market Planning Board. “Gains in employment are being seen in sectors that have previously seen decreases, which is a positive sign of their recovery. The decreases in goods-producing sector align with seasonal trends but may be a bit higher due to the current confidence levels in the market.”

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 current number of job postings exceeds 1,600.