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The London-area unemployment rate dropped in February but other indicators of the local labour market’s strength softened, figures released Friday by Statistics Canada show.
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The region’s jobless rate now stands at 5.8 per cent, down from January’s 6.3 per cent, the federal agency said. The drop, however, is the result of a decline in the number of people employed and looking for work as opposed to having more people hired.
Chalk up the latest jobs figures to the lingering effects of the Omicron-induced Ontario economic shutdown put in place in January.
February marked the second straight month the London region didn’t gain any new jobs – posting a loss of about 200 jobs in February after losing about the same number in January.
There are now 291,900 people employed in the region, which also takes in Strathroy, St. Thomas and portions of Elgin and Middlesex counties. That’s still about 22,000 more jobs than in February 2020, before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The region also saw a slight dip in its participation rate – the share of the working-age population that is working or looking for work – to 65.6 per cent from 66 per cent in January. At the same time, the total size of the labour force shrunk by about 1,800 people.
The less-than-stellar report was expected because Statistics Canada uses a three-month rolling average to report job figures for metropolitan areas the size of London. This meant the toll on the local economy of the latest round of provincial lockdowns and restriction on businesses, introduced on Jan. 5, would not be clear in real-time locally.
Provincially and nationally, however, the picture last month was more positive.
Ontario’s jobless rate dropped to 5.5 per cent from January’s 7.3 per cent rate after adding more than 194,000 jobs. This suggests a similar bounce-back is in store for the London region in upcoming reports as the province moves away from masking and other COVID-related restrictions.
Canada’s unemployment rate also dropped last month by a full percentage point and now stands at 5.5 per cent.
https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/omicron-waves-economic-toll-lingering-in-latest-local-jobless-figures
