The unemployment rate for the London-St. Thomas area went up last month, but that's not the worst news in the latest jobs report from Statistics Canada.
According to the agency, the local jobless rate was 5.5% in September, up from August's 5.4%. But a closer look at the numbers reveals some grim statistics. About 3,000 people left the local labour force in September and fewer than six in ten were working or in search of a job. The local labour participation rate of 58.9% is the lowest among Canadian cities.
Nationally, the economy saw a net growth of jobs for the tenth straight month. The unemployment rate stayed at its nine-year low of 6.2%.
An increase of 112,000 full-time jobs more than off-set a loss of 102,000 part-time jobs. However, Statistics Canada says the increase was driven by growth in public sector employment.