News Release
September 2016 – Local Unemployment Rate Increases
Media Information:
Gemma Mendez-Smith
Walkerton (September 9, 2016) – The unemployment rate for the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula economic region increased to 5.1% in August from 4.2% the previous month, the first increase since March this year. This increase is higher than the province which saw its unemployment rise from 6.5% in July to 6.9% in August.
In our region, job numbers increased by 1,000, from 142,700 to 143,700 in August. This growth was driven by a gain of 2,000 in full-time work, offset with a loss of 1,000 in part-time work.
Both the Goods-producing (+700) and Services-producing (+300) sectors saw job numbers climb marginally.
The Goods-producing sector had the most gains in Agriculture (+1,400), with slight gains in Construction (+200). Losses were felt in Manufacturing (-300), while Utilities remained constant. Numbers for this sector will not tally because of suppression of data in Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas.
Educational services lost the most jobs (-1,500) in the Services-producing sector. The most job growth was in Other services (except public administration) (+1,600) and Information, culture and technology (+700). Losses were seen in Public administration (-700), Professional, scientific and technical services (-600) and Health care and social assistance (-200).
In August Bruce Power announced a partnership with four Ontario colleges to help create a qualified labour pool.
“This is good news for potential workers. Now they have concrete information about how to better prepare for opportunities that will arise at Bruce Power,” said Gemma Mendez-Smith, executive director at the Four County Labour Market Planning Board.
Following labour market events is key to helping job seekers understand where the opportunities (short, medium, long term) might be in the region’s local communities. These local and regional labour market events and announcements can complement your job search and career exploration.
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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.