London-St. Thomas fell below 5% national unemployment rate in March: StatCan

The London-St. Thomas jobless rate fell to 4.8 per cent in March, the lowest level recorded by Statistics Canada since last April.

The decline comes despite the region losing 1,400 jobs last month, combined with 2,400 people leaving the workforce, down from 314,100 reported in February. The number of people claiming unemployment also fell by 900 in March.

The participation rate also dropped to 64.6 per cent last month, down from 65.2 per cent in February.

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The London-St. Thomas rate now sits below the national unemployment rate, which held steady at five per cent last month.

Still, the Canadian economy added 35,000 jobs in March, led by growth in Ontario where 21,000 jobs were added. Despite the large addition, the province’s jobless rate also held firm at 5.1 per cent.