There was a slight decline in the London area unemployment rate in June, but it wasn't because more people found jobs.
Figures released by Statistics Canada on Friday show the jobless rate in the London census metropolitan area, which includes London, St. Thomas, Strathroy, and other surrounding communities, dripped slightly to 4.9 per cent last month, down from five per cent in May.
The decrease comes as fewer people were out looking for work with 2,800 individuals leaving the labour force. The region's participation rate is now the worst in the country, sitting at 57.3 per cent.
To help combat the low participation rate, the city launched a new website - LondonJobsNow.ca - last Friday. Described as the "Trivago of jobs boards," the new website pulls in postings from the region's most popular job boards hourly and allows users to browse where in the city jobs are located, and whether they are close to public transit routes, childcare, and other services.
Nationally, the unemployment rate rose a bit to 5.5 per cent last month, from 5.4 per cent the previous month. The economy lost 2,200 net jobs in June.
Provincially, the jobless rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 5.4 per cent.
