The unemployment rate in the area that includes Bruce, Grey, Huron and Perth counties increased slightly in July, even 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 4.3 per cent last month — the third-lowest in the province — up from 4 per cent in June.
The regional economy added 6,500 full-time positions, partially offset by the loss of 3,600 part-time jobs.
The healthcare and social assistance (+1,300), construction (+1,300), wholesale and retail trade (+1,200) and agriculture (+700) sectors led the job gains in July. The greatest employment losses in the region came in the utilities (-900) and educational services (-700) industries.
Four County Labour Market Planning Board Executive Director Dana Soucie says employers continue to struggle to retain and attract workers to fill vacancies. Currently, there are more than 2,600 postings on the regional job board run by the planning board: www.connect2jobs.ca.
“With the 10-year chronic low unemployment rate, this is not a new challenge to our regions but one that has gotten far worse as the labour market continues to shrink and change landscapes,” Soucie says. “New and innovative solutions will be needed to address critical shortages, avoid the loss of businesses and critical care services for our regions.”
Ontario’s unemployment rate for the month of July, unadjusted for seasonality, increased to 5.5 per cent.
Nationally, 31,000 positions were lost last month but the unemployment rate held steady at an historic low of 4.9 per cent as the amount of people in the job market fell slightly.
Statistics Canada says the overall labour force participation rate, or the proportion of the population aged 15 and older that is either employed or unemployed, dropped to 64.7 per cent last month.