After losing over 3,000 jobs in March, the unemployment rate for the London area has risen to the highest level in Canada, based on new statistics from Statistics Canada.
For the reporting period ending in March, the London area – which includes London, St. Thomas and Strathroy – recorded an unemployment rate of 9.1 per cent, making it the highest across the country.
The unemployment rate indicates how many people are without jobs as a percentage of the total labor force and can be influenced by various factors such as population growth.
As of March’s last reporting period, London’s unemployment rate has increased each month for eight months straight, up from 7.1 per cent in November of last year.
Additionally, London’s jobless rate is higher than Ontario’s average of 7.6 per cent.
Petrusia Hontar serves as executive director for the Middlesex-Oxford Workforce Planning Board, which collects local workforce data.
She mentioned that while changes in population can skew these numbers somewhat, they still reflect a troubling trend for the local economy.
“What this just means is that there has been a little bit of stagnation in growth and the rate of re-hiring,” she said.
Some employers in London, particularly within manufacturing sectors, have reported job cuts during this time frame.
Hontar noted that this is one contributing factor but likely not the sole reason.
“I think that some of the layoffs we’ve seen in the post-secondary education realm is also quite concerning and that’s going to have some impact,” she said.
The employment figures for London’s area-which tracks how many people are employed-are also declining.
This number fell from 332,000 in November last year to 320,000 by March.
Graham Henderson is the CEO of the London Chamber of Commerce. He expressed concern regarding these unemployment figures while highlighting that national job growth remains stagnant at best.
Henderson pointed out several reasons behind these disappointing job statistics including ongoing trade tensions with the United States and various challenges faced by downtown London.
“What’s a concern for us here in London is that we’re above the national average,” he said. “We shouldn’t be totally surprised because of the region’s reliance on the United States.”
He also mentioned other cities nearby showing similar though slightly better jobless rates for March like Kitchener (8.6) and Windsor (8.5).
“The region is all high. From that perspective it’s not just a London problem,” he said.
Additionally, Henderson cited other factors affecting job numbers such as Fanshawe College cutting a third of its staff due to budget constraints and new restrictions on student visas for foreign applicants.
“That’s had a huge ripple effect,” he said.
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