Walkerton, ON (October 9, 2020) – In September, the unemployment rate for the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula Economic Region decreased by 0.8 percentage points to 7.9%. At the same time, the provincial unemployment rate decreased by 1.1 percentage points to 11%. 

Overall net employment in the region increased by 2,400 with both full-time (+1,000) and part-time (+1,400) gains. 

The number of Goods-producing sector employees increased by 1,500, with the greatest increases in Utilities (+700) and Manufacturing (+700). All Goods-producing sectors experienced either an increase or no change compared to last month. 

Employment in the Services-producing sector increased by 800. The greatest gains were in Wholesale and retail trade (+1,900) and Professional, scientific and technical services (+600). These gains were partly off-set by losses in Educational services (-700) and Finance, insurance, and real estate (-500). 

The Planning Board is continuing to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the local labour market. If you live and work in Bruce, Grey, Huron or Perth counties, please take a few minutes to fill out this confidential and anonymous survey concerning your experiences with employment, precarious work, financial demands and physical/mental health challenges resulting from the pandemic: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FCLMPBCOVIDIMPACT 

The survey will be open until November 30, 2020 and results will be available in December. For more information, please contact sarah@planningboard.ca 

“Based on these seasonally unadjusted data it appears we are in recovery mode which is good news for the economic region,” said Gemma Mendez-Smith, executive director of the Planning Board. “We will definitely be keeping a keen eye on these numbers to determine the extent of our region’s economy, over the next few months,” she stated. 

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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.