London-St. Thomas unemployment rate climbs to 5 % in May

The unemployment rate for London-St. Thomas rose slightly in May, according to the latest figures released by Statistics Canada.

The local jobless rate climbed to 5 per cent last month, up from 4.8 per cent in April.

Nationally, the economy added 27,700 jobs in May, while the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since comparable data became available in 1976.

The unemployment rate fell to 5.4 per cent compared with 5.7 per cent in April as the number of people looking for work fell sharply.

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The better-than-expected increase in the number of jobs follows a record 106,500 jobs that were added in April.

The increase in jobs was made up entirely of full-time employment as there was no change in the number of part-time jobs.

Year-over-year average hourly wage growth for all employees, a key indicator monitored by the Bank of Canada ahead of its interest-rate decisions, 2.8 per cent in May, up from 2.5 per cent in April.