The local jobless rate increased in August for the first time in nine months, but other job numbers were more positive, says the Workforce Planning Board of Grand Erie.
Brantford-Brant’s unemployment rate climbed to 3.8 per cent last month, up from 3.4 per cent in July, figures released Friday by Statistics Canada show.
The board said in a news release Friday that the increase is connected to an influx of people jumping into the labor market.
Canada’s jobless rate jumped half a percentage point to 5.4 per cent in August as employment fell by 40,000 overall. Ontario’s rate climbed to 5.7 per cent attributed to more people searching for work.
Based on its survey of Brantford-Brant residents, Statistics Canada estimated that an additional 1,700 people entered the labor market in August, with 1,300 finding jobs and 400 not.
That pushed up the employment rate by a full percentage point to 64.6 per cent, the highest in the last year, the board said.
“With many businesses experiencing labor shortages, this influx of workers is particularly good news,” said Danette Dalton, the board’s executive director.
“This will help take some pressure off businesses, but we know that the tight labor market will continue, with lots of competition for workers.”
Dalton said that some companies have increased wages, improved benefits and offered signing bonuses, but it isn’t clear if these actions have enticed people to rejoin the workforce.
The planning board said it has launched a new survey to better understand what job seekers and workers value most in a job, which will run over the next couple of months.
The board is urgent local residents ro take 10 minutes to complete the survey (www.surveymonkey.com/r/QoW-BE).
August saw 3,900 new jobs listed on Grand Erie Jobs, reversing the drop seen in July, according to the board.
Typically, the most in-demand jobs are in the service industry, which is where the majority of employment growth in August came from, led by positions in wholesale and retail trade.
Statistics Canada’s local survey showed a large chunk of job growth was in full-time work. More men than women began working, with more job gains among men in the core working ages of 25 to 54.
The planning board, funded in part by the federal and provincial governments, is one of 26 non-profit organizations in Ontario that play a leadership role in labor force planning.