Hamilton’s unemployment rate dropped for a third straight month, showing additional recovery from significant drops earlier in the year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Statistics Canada’s (StatCan) latest data shows the jobless rate fell to 8.9 per cent in September compared to 10 per cent in August.
The region’s numbers surged during the coronavirus pandemic from 4.9 per cent in February to 12.1 per cent at the end of June.
The agency says the city was flat in terms of adding new jobs in September.
StatCan says 391,100 people were employed last month, which is the same as August.
The city is still down 28,800 jobs compared to the same month in 2019.
Hamilton’s labour force decreased by 5,300 people while 5,200 fewer people claimed unemployment in September.
The city’s participation rate, which measures the proportion of the working-age population that is working or looking for work, was also generally flat only slipping slightly to 62.5 per cent in September from 63.3 per cent in August.
Niagara jobless rate falls in September
During the pandemic, Niagara has been the second hardest-hit region in Ontario, losing close to 32,000 (15.6 per cent) of its jobs between February and June.
Niagara’s labour force increased slightly by 1,100 people while 5,300 fewer people claimed unemployment.
The region’s population that’s working or looking for work was flat moving from 57.1 per cent in August to 57.3 per cent last month.
Ontario adds 153K jobs in September
Ontario’s unemployment rate also dropped slightly to 10.5 per cent compared to 11.4 per cent in August.
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The labour market gained another 153,400 jobs in September, up from the 223,400 jobs reported in August.
Canada adds another 378,000 jobs
StatCan national numbers also showed a dip as the unemployment rate slid to 9 per cent compared to 10.2 per cent in August. In May, the country had a record high of 13.7 per cent.
The labour market gained another 378,000 jobs in September, up from the 246,000 jobs in August.
StatCan says the number of Canadians working from home also declined for the fourth consecutive month. During the peak of the pandemic in May, 3.4 million Canadians worked remotely. That number dropped to 2.5 million in August.
Temporary layoffs, which reached a pandemic peak of 1.2 million in April, fell again in August. In July, there were 460,000 on layoff. That number dropped to 230,000 in August.
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