The jobless rate in Brantford-Brant dropped to 3.9 per cent in June down from 4.6 per cent in May, according to Statistics Canada’s monthly labor force survey released Friday.
“These impressive numbers come at a time when some employers are experiencing a labor shortage,” said Danette Dalton, executive director of the Workforce Planning Board of Grand Erie, in a media release. “There are still hundreds of potential workers who aren’t in the labor force who can help fill that shortage. The good news is that when residents join or rejoin the workforce there are usually jobs for them.”
Norfolk’s jobless rate for June was estimated at 4.3 per cent. This compares favorably to 7.4 per cent for the same period in 2021. The rate decline was due to a shrinking labor force, said the Workforce Planning Board. The actual number of people employed was the same as the previous year.
On the national level, the unemployment rate dropped to a record 4.9 per cent for June. The decline was due to fewer people searching for work. There were actually 43,000 fewer people employed.
Ontario’s jobless rate dropped to 5.1 per cent in June.
Brantford’ labor force increased in June for the first time in several months, said the release. Improvements were due to full-time and part-time job gains.
Retirements in the past year have tightened what was already a tight labor pool, Dalton said. The number of residents aged 65 and over not employed or not looking for work increased by more than 3,000 since June 2021. Comparatively, from June 2020 to June 2021, the number declined.
The number of new job openings posted on Grand Erie Jobs job board site continues to hold steady at about 4,000 each month in the local area. The number of companies posting jobs is about 2,000 monthly.
Job postings in retail trade, transportation and warehousing, and information and culture have increased in recent months. There has also been a big increase in education job postings as school boards, colleges and universities traditionally post at this time of year, said the release.