The local jobless rate remained at 4.9 per cent for the third consecutive month in March, figures provided by Statistics Canada say.
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By way of comparison, the national unemployment rate increased by 0.3 per cent to 6.1 per cent while the provincial rate increased to 6.7 per cent, even though 26,000 more people were working.
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The unemployment rate in Norfolk County in March was estimated to be 4.6 per cent. That’s almost identical to the area’s jobless rate in September 2023 when Statistics Canada last released Norfolk County’s jobless rate.
Statistics Canada doesn’t release figures for some areas when there isn’t enough data.
The Workforce Planning Board of Grand Erie says about 400 more people in Brantford-Brant were working last month, continuing slow but steady employment growth since last summer.
Employment has grown by an estimated 3,500 jobs since August, but overall, the number of people working – approximately 79,000 – is almost identical to March 2023, the board said.
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“These numbers don’t spark great excitement and, sure, we would have liked to see more job growth,” said Danette Dalton, the planning board’s executive director. “But the fact that we’ve held steady while the population has grown is a positive.
“Our labor market has been able to absorb population growth, replacing workers leaving the workforce with new people.”
Dalton said that in many other communities, including most of those surrounding Brantford-Brant and Norfolk, employment gains have lagged behind population growth.
There were 2,000 new jobs posted last month on Grand Erie Jobs, the online job board the planning board maintains. That was up five per cent over February, though the number of employers hiring was down slightly to 1,340, the planning board said.
The Brant Community Healthcare System posted the most jobs in March, more than 80, while the City of Brantford was also high on the list. Three of the Top 5 jobs advertised were health-care related, the planning board said.
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 Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario.
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