The Brantford-Brant unemployment rate continues to hover around the five percent mark, figures provided by Statistics Canada say,
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The figures, released Friday, put the local jobless rate at 4.9 per cent, matching the jobless rate for the first three months of 2024 and just below May’s rate of five per cent.
By comparison, provincial rate dipped to 6.7 per cent in May while the national rate increased slightly to 6.2 per cent. Ontario added 50,000 jobs in May, the most in Canada, while employment grew by 27,000 nationally.
The jobs added to the national economy were part-time while full-time employment across the country dropped by 36,000.
Meanwhile, the local employment rate – the percentage of those 15 years and older who are working – hit a one-year high in May.
The overall size of Brantford-Brant’s labor force has grown by 1,900 since May 2023 with 1,100 of those people finding work. The remaining 800 have not found employment.
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“Those numbers are a reminder that even with Brantford having one of the lowest unemployment rates in Ontario, there are local residents who need supports and help finding jobs,” said Danette Dalton, executive director of the Workforce Planning Board of Grand Erie, said in a statement. “There are a lot of great local organizations working to help people find jobs and to boost their skills.”
A range of supports including government-funded employment centers, literacy and basic skills services, organizations that help residents with special needs or newcomers, and free job training programs such as the planning board’s new Skills2Advance Try a Trade are available to residents, Dalton said.
“These organizations also work with local employers to help them find the workers they need,” she said. “Neither job seekers nor businesses should shy away from reaching out to ask for help.”
There were more than 2,150 new job posts – a 13 per cent increase – in May on Grand Erie Jobs, the planning board’s online job website. There was also a 19 per cent increase in active job posts, with 4,250, while 11 per cent more companies advertised jobs compared to April.
The planning board is one of 26 non-profit organizations in Ontario that play a leadership role in labor force planning. It is funded, in part, by the provincial and federal governments.
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