The unemployment rate in the area that includes Bruce, Grey, Huron and Perth counties fell slightly in March, as thousands of new full-time jobs were created.
The Four County Labour Market Planning Board says the jobless rate for the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula region checked in at 4.5 per cent last month, a slight drop from 4.6 per cent in February.
The regional economy added 2,200 full-time positions and 800 part-time jobs. The job gains in March came after more than 10,000 full-time positions were lost in the three months prior, according to past data from the planning board.
The wholesale and retail trade (+2,500), agriculture (+1,200) and manufacturing (+800) sectors led the job gains in March. The greatest employment losses in the region came in the healthcare and social assistance (-2,600) industry.
“We are continuing to see that the local unemployment rate remains one of the lowest in the province. We need to focus on helping workers acquire the skills they need for available positions, as well as supporting individuals who may have left the workforce and are now in a position to re-enter the labour market,” says Sarah Pelton, the new Executive Director of the Four County Labour Market Planning Board.
Ontario’s unemployment rate for the month of March, unadjusted for seasonality, increased slightly to 6.1 per cent.
Nationally, the jobless rate fell to 5.3 per cent – down from 5.5 per cent a month prior – as Canada’s economy created 73,000 new positions. However, Statistics Canada says the unemployment rate for the country would have been 7.2 per cent if calculations included those who wanted a job but did not look for one.