The London-area’s jobless rate rose slightly to 5.7 per cent last month, up from 5.5 per cent in December, but remained well below the provincewide average of 6.2 per cent, just-released figures show.
The 0.2 per cent increase, outlined in numbers published Friday by Statistics Canada, brings the local unemployment rate back toward the level in October and November, when it hovered at 5.8 per cent.
Article content
The figures cover the London census metropolitan area, which also takes in Strathroy, St. Thomas and parts of Elgin and Middlesex counties. The January numbers also indicate the local labor force, which is the number of employed or unemployed people older than 15, was 331,000, down about 1,000 from December.
Article content
The participation rate – the percentage of the adult population either working or looking for work – worsened in the London region in January to 66.3 per cent. The rate in December was 66.8 per cent.
The start of 2024 is relatively positive, though it’s worth noting last year included the lowest jobless rate ever recorded in the London area, when it plunged to 4.4 per cent in April 2023 and held steady there in May, too.
Provincewide, the jobless rate improved slightly last month to 6.2 per cent, down from 6.3 per cent in December. Employment in Ontario increased by 24,000 jobs in January, offsetting a decline of 37,000 jobs in December, following five months of little change, the Statistics Canada report shows.
Across the country the unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage points to 5.7 per cent in January 2024, the first decline in the national unemployment rate since December 2022.
London’s monthly jobless numbers (2023-24)
- January – 5 per cent
- February – 5.1 per cent
- March – 4.8 per cent
- April – 4.4 per cent
- May – 4.4 per cent
- June – 4.5 per cent
- July – 5 per cent
- August – 5.6 per cent
- September – 6 per cent
- October – 5.8 per cent
- November – 5.8 per cent
- December – 5.5 per cent
- January 2024 – 5.7 per cent
Share this article in your social network