Walkerton, ON (February 10, 2023) – In January, the unemployment rate for the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula Economic Region increased by 0.8 percentage points to 4.4%. The provincial unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 5%, both unadjusted for seasonality.
Overall net employment in the region decreased by 4,500, with 3,800 full-time losses and 700 part-time losses. The region’s labour force size decreased from 165,400 people in December 2022 to 162,300 people in January 2023.
The number of Goods-producing sector employees decreased once again this month by net 1,100. The Construction sector experienced the biggest loss this month (-1,800) followed by Manufacturing (-700). Agriculture experienced another gain this month (+1,600).
Employment in the Services-producing sector decreased by net 3,400, the largest monthly decrease seen in the past 12 months. Transportation and warehousing experienced the biggest loss (-1,300) followed by Information, culture and recreation (-1,200). Educational services experienced the largest gain once again this month (+900).
“The most notable loss this month was in the Services-producing sector as well as full-time positions” says Dana Soucie, Executive Director for the Four County Labour Market Planning Board. “We will be monitoring the trends and working with our stakeholders to support workforce development projects to address these labour shortage”.
Current job postings for the Bruce, Grey, Huron, Perth region have increased overtime since the pandemic and can be found at: www.connect2JOBS.ca. This is updated regularly so visit often and create your account to track the job opportunities. Our current number of job postings exceeds 2,900.
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Note: Statistics Canada’s monthly Labour Force Survey provides estimates of employment and unemployment, based on a sampling of households in communities. Stratford-Bruce Peninsula figures represent a three-month moving average, unadjusted for seasonality.
