Woman working. File photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo / rasstock.Woman working. File photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo / rasstock.
London

London-area jobless rate down to 6.4 per cent

The unemployment rate in the London region continued to trend in the right direction in November.

New figures released by Statistics Canada on Friday show the jobless rate for the London Census Metropolitan Area was 6.4 per cent last month, down slightly from 6.7 per cent in October. It is the fifth consecutive month the local unemployment rate has trended downwards and is the lowest the rate has been in 2021. In June the rate hit a high of 10 per cent, which was partially blamed on pandemic lockdowns which shuttered many businesses throughout the spring. Since then it has slowly been declining with 9.1 per cent in July, 7.8 per cent in August, 7.3 per cent in September, and 6.7 per cent in October.

The continued dip in November comes as the London region added an additional 2,600 new jobs, the 17th straight month the local economy added new positions. The number of people actively looking for work increased by 1,000.

The participation rate, which reflects the percentage of working-age individuals employed or looking for work, rose slightly to 65.5 per cent, from 65.2 per cent in October.

Nationally, the unemployment rate dropped in November to 6 per cent from 6.7 per cent the previous month. The economy added 154,000 jobs.

Ontario added just over 68,000 positions last month. That helped lower the jobless rate to 6.4 per cent, a level not seen since before the COVID-19 crisis struck near the start of 2020.

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