For the third consecutive month, the London area unemployment rate dropped slightly.
Figures released by Statistics Canada on Friday morning show the jobless rate for the London Census Metropolitan Area, which includes St. Thomas, Strathroy, and other surrounding communities, was 5.7 per cent in December, a slight decline from November's 5.8 per cent.
The decrease came as the local labour market added 2,000 jobs and the number of people claiming Employment Insurance fell.
While the first half of 2019 was considered underwhelming and shaky on the jobs front, the last six months of the year made up for it. The London region has added 19,100 jobs since July.
There was also an increase in the local labour participation rate, from 60.1 per cent in November to 61.1 per cent in December.
Nationally, the unemployment rate fell 0.3 percentage points to now sit at 5.6 per cent. The country added 35,000 jobs last month.
Provincially, 25,000 jobs were added, dropping the jobless rate to 5.3 per cent.
