Employment picture holds steady

London’s unemployment rate remains unchanged in January; impact of latest wave of lockdowns to come

ACCORDING TO NUMBERS released by Statistics Canada on Friday, the London region’s unemployment rate is bucking both provincial and national trends, remaining unchanged at 7.7 per cent in January following the addition of 3,000 new jobs last month.

It’s the seventh month in a row that the London region, which also takes in Strathroy, St. Thomas and portions of Elgin and Middlesex counties, has recorded a labour force gain.

Nationally, employment in Canada fell more than expected in January as a fresh wave of lockdowns weighs on the nation’s economy.

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The country lost 212,800 positions in the month, says Stats Can. The national unemployment rate jumped to 9.4 per cent, versus 8.8 per cent previously and a forecast of 8.9 per cent.

In Ontario, employment fell by 154,000 positions ― the biggest decline since May ― and the unemployment rate rose to 10.2 per cent from 9.6, driven largely by people in temporary layoffs, says Stats Can.

While the figures for the London area are relatively positive, because municipal-level numbers use a three-month moving average as opposed to month-to-month changes in job figures, Stats Can cautions that the impact of ongoing Covid-19 economic measures on the region’s economy are yet to be fully known.