Employment gains in Windsor in December were lost last month as the jobless rate climbed 1.2 percentage points to 8.2 per cent.
Statistics Canada released its Labour Force Survey on Friday, taken between January 9 and January 15, when many businesses faced new restrictions as cases of the Omicron variant spiked across the province.
Windsor's losses reflect a drop in employment across Canada and Ontario.
The national economy lost 200,000 jobs in January. Virtually all of them were in the private sector, and most were in Ontario and Quebec, where restrictions were the most strict.
Unsurprisingly, accommodation and food services were the hardest hit. In turn, employment losses were steepest for youth and core-aged women.
Part-time positions dropped by 117,000, while full-time jobs slipped by 83,000. Those who remained employed but worked only half their usual hours climbed 66.1 per cent, the greastest increase since March 2020.
The losses boosted the unemployment rate to 6.5 percent, a half percentage point jump from December. It was the first time in nine months it rose in Canada.
A record one in ten workers took time off work due to illness or disability, again reflecting the beating the Omicron variant gave the labour market.
Employment in Ontario fell 1.9 per cent as the provincial economy shed 146,000 positions, pushing the province's unemployment rate to 7.3 per cent, an increase of 1.2 percentage points from the month before.
The survey for February will provide a snapshot between February 13 and February 19. Statistics Canada will release it on March 11.
