An increase in both full time and part time employment led to a drop in the London area's jobless rate last month.
According to figures released Friday by Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate in the London Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) fell to 5.6 per cent in December, down from November's rate of 5.8 per cent. The London CMA includes London, St. Thomas, Strathroy, and other surrounding communities.
Statistics Canada says there was an increase of 800 full time jobs in the area in December to go along with an increase of 1,700 part time jobs.
The Labour Force, which is the number of people 15 and older who are either working or looking for work, increased in size to 257,700 in December from 256,900 the previous month. The Labour Participation Rate, which measures the percentage of the population that is included in the Labour Force, fell to 65.7 per cent from November's 66.5 per cent due to a month-to-month increase of 5,500 in the overall working age population.
Nationally, employment was virtually unchanged in December, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 5.8 per cent. The Ontario jobless rate was 6.3 per cent in December, an increase of 0.2 percentage points from November.
