The unemployment rate in London-St. Thomas held steady in January at 7.7 per cent, marking the seventh straight month that the rate has either fallen or held steady.
London Mayor Ed Holder had suggested last month that January’s numbers could buck the trend, due to impacts resulting from the provincial shutdown that began Dec. 26.
Instead, Statistics Canada reports the region added 3,000 jobs while the labour force increased by 3,100. The number of people claiming unemployment rose by 100.
The participation rate climbed to 62.7 per cent from 62 per cent.
The jobless rate in London-St. Thomas skyrocketed from 4.9 per cent in February 2020, before the pandemic, to a high of 12.6 per cent in June. It’s fallen or remained steady every month since.
Nationally, January saw a loss of almost 213,000 jobs concentrated mostly in Ontario and Quebec. It was the biggest monthly decline since April when some two million jobs were lost.
The unemployment rate rose 0.6 percentage points to 9.4 per cent, the highest rate since August.
— with files from the Canadian Press.