The local unemployment rate saw a slight uptick in April.
According to the Four County Labour Market Planning Board, unemployment in the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula Economic Region went up by just .01 percentage points to land at 6 per cent last month. That’s the highest it’s been since April of 2021. The provincial unemployment rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 5.1 per cent, both unadjusted for seasonality.
Net employment in the region went up with 400 full-time and 1,500 part-time gains, respectively. The region’s labour force increased in size from 163,700 people in March to 166,000 people in April.
A media release from the Four County Labour Market Planning Board shared the following numbers:
The number of Goods-producing sector employees increased this month by net 3,600 (+6.2 percent). Construction experienced the greatest gain this month (+2,900) followed by Utilities (+400). Manufacturing is the only Goods-producing sector that experienced loss this month (-100).
Employment in the Services-producing sector decreased by net 1,600. Professional, scientific and technical services experienced the biggest loss once again this month (-2,000) followed by Information, culture and food services (-600). Business, building and other support services experienced the largest gain this month (+600) followed by Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing (+600).
Current job postings for the Bruce, Grey, Huron, Perth region have increased over time since the pandemic and can be found at: www.connect2JOBS.ca. There are currently nearly 3,200 postings.
