A brick sign welcoming drivers to Windsor is seen at Walker Road near the 401 on March 7, 2016.A brick sign welcoming drivers to Windsor is seen at Walker Road near the 401 on March 7, 2016.
Windsor

Windsor's unemployment rate improves, but remains in double digits

There was a modest gain in employment in Windsor last month from May.

June's unemployment rate fell 1.5 percentage points to 15.2 per cent as 14,000 people returned to work.

The city's Labour Participation Rate was 54 per cent last month.

Statistics Canada released its Labour Market Survey Friday, showing gains in employment across the country as the economy continued to reopen. The survey was conducted between June 14 and June 20.

Windsor no longer has the dubious distinction of having the highest jobless rate in the country. In June, the city's unemployment rate was the third-highest behind Edmonton at 15.7 per cent, and Calgary was at 15.6 per cent.

Nationally, Statistics Canada said the number of workers impacted by the COVID-19 shut down fell 43 per cent from April to 3.1 million Canadians. Employment continued to build on May's gains adding another 953,000 net jobs to the economy. That is an increase of 5.8 per cent.

In June, employment was still down 9.2 percent from February before the World Health Organization declared the global pandemic. However, it rose from a record high in April of 13.7 per cent to 12.3 per cent.

Gains were made in all provinces, including Ontario, where 378,000 jobs were filled, pushing the jobless rate down by 1.4 percentage points to 12.2 per cent.

Ontario's Labour Participation rate also rose to 62.7 per cent from 60.1 per cent in May.

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