An employee at the Windsor Assembly Plant, May 6 2016. (Photo by Maureen Revait)An employee at the Windsor Assembly Plant, May 6 2016. (Photo by Maureen Revait)
Windsor

No longer the unemployment capital, Windsor's jobless rate falls

Another 6,100 people in Windsor found work in January, pushing the unemployment rate down 1.7 percentage points to 6.2 per cent.

The gain in employment was enough that Windsor no longer has the highest jobless rate in Canada. While 12,500 residents are still looking for work, that dubious honour now belongs to Brantford, which had 6.8 per cent unemployment last month.

Another 150,000 positions were filled nationwide in January, a gain of 0.8 percentage points, but not enough to change Canada's unemployment rate. It remained at 5 per cent.

Most of those gains, about 100,000, were among those aged 25 to 54, the core of Canada's labour force. It was split evenly between men and women, and most positions were full-time.

Ontario had the highest growth in Canada, with an additional 63,000 jobs. The provincial unemployment rate didn't change much. It is still 5.2 per cent.

Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey for January also shows more people joined the labour force. It grew by 153,000, boosting it to 65.7 per cent, an increase of 0.3 percentage points. Pre-pandemic, it was 65.9 per cent.

Windsor's labour force grew by 3,100, climbing to 198,700, while the labour participation rate was 64.9 per cent.

The average hourly wage dropped slightly from December, but Canadians made more than they did a year ago. That indicator grew by 4.5 per cent, or $1.42 to $33.01.

About 7.1 per cent of Canadian workers called in sick because of illness or disability during the week the Statistics Canada conducted the survey. Absenteeism was down from last January's 10 per cent posting and on par with the average for that month.

The U.S. also saw a boost in employment. Its unemployment rate was 3.4 per cent, the lowest in more than 50 years.

Canada's jobless rate was 4 per cent, applying American concepts.

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