As public health restrictions continue to ease, significant gains in part-time work last month are a sign Stratford area businesses feel hopeful ahead of this year’s tourism season, a local economy watcher says.
As public-health restrictions continue to ease, significant gains in part-time work last month are a sign Stratford-area businesses feel hopeful ahead of this year’s tourism season, a local economy watcher says.
New figures released by Statistics Canada on Friday show employment in the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula region increased by about 700 jobs in February. Although the region lost 500 full-time jobs, it gained 1,200 part-time roles, the federal agency said.
Those numbers are similar to the ones usually reported in the region at this time of year when a global public-health crisis isn’t threatening to keep theater buffs and cottagers at home.
“I think we’re seeing back-to-normal, pre-COVID activity in the whole economy because we’re seeing those part-time jobs ramping up again,” said Gemma Mendez Smith, the executive director of the Four County Labor Market Planning Board. “I think we’re seeing more types of businesses within the services sector getting back to business. Before (February), we didn’t see much activity, but we are seeing hiring happen there and in other areas that support that whole tourism-based economy.”
The Stratford area’s unemployment rate – a three month moving average unadjusted for seasonality – remained unchanged last month at 4.6 per cent, the second lowest in Ontario.
Meanwhile the number of employees in the region’s goods-producing sector increased by 700 last month. Those gains were led by agriculture (+700) and construction (+900), which helped offset 1,200 job losses in manufacturing.
In the services-producing sector, employment remained stable overall. Losses in health care and social assistance (-2,000) were offset by gains in wholesale and retail trade (+1,600), among other sectors.
Public-health measures put in place to soften the impact of the pandemic’s Omicron wave have recently started lifting in Ontario. By March 21, the provincial government expects to set aside a public mask mandate in place since the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
That’s good news for the economy, Mendez-Smith said, but there are still lingering economic effects that should be watched carefully, including the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on women.
“Some women have chosen over the last two years to exit the workforce completely and that may have at some point impacted their skills,” she said. “It’s going to be really important for when they are ready to come back that we have those training programs that are quick, ramp-up sessions where people can get the skills that they need.”
Provincially and nationally, the economic picture in Friday’s Labor Force Survey was also positive.
Ontario’s jobless rate dropped to 5.5 per cent from January’s 7.3 per cent rate after adding more than 194,000 jobs. Canada’s unemployment rate also dropped last month by a full percentage point and now sits at 5.5 per cent.