The new year started with a slight increase to the local unemployment rate, according to the latest figures released by the Four County Labour Market Planning Board.
In January, the unemployment rate for the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula Economic Region increased by 0.4 percentage points to 4.8 per cent.
The region’s overall population and labour force size increased by 400. There was also a decrease about 2,900 full-time jobs.
“Seeing our population and labour force size increase is a positive sign we are attracting the workforce we need to fill local vacancies” said Dana Soucie, Executive Director for the Four County Labour Market Planning Board. “Although we see a loss in full-time employment, it is offset with the gain in part-time employment which may support those who require flexible schedules to remain in the workforce.”
However, critics will note that part-time employment doesn't offer the same benefits as full-time employment, and can't be treated as a one-for-one replacement when trying to measure the overall economic health of a region.
Manufacturing experienced the biggest gain adding roughly 1,600 jobs, while wholesale and retail trade lost 2,100 jobs.
The labour board says there are nearly 3,000 current job postings for the Bruce, Grey, Huron, Perth region, which can be found at www.connect2JOBS.ca.
