Greater Sudbury added jobs in November, but an increase in the number of people looking for work pushed the city's jobless rate up slightly to 6.2 per cent.
According to Statistics Canada's monthly labour force report, about 82,600 people in the city had jobs last month, compared to 82,000 in October. But the size of the labour force increased to 88,100, up from 87,400. That led the unemployment rate to edge up from the 6.1 per cent reported in October.
The figures are a considerable improvement compared to the same time in 2016, when Sudbury's jobless rate was 7.5 per cent and 83,400 people had jobs.
Ontario enjoyed the biggest increase in employment last month, with 44,000 more people employed, mostly in wholesale and retail trade as well as in manufacturing, StatsCan reported.
“The unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage points to 5.5 per cent, the lowest rate since July 2000,” it said in a news release. “Ontario has seen a downward trend in the unemployment rate since the start of 2016. Year-over-year employment gains in the province totalled 181,000 (+2.6 per cent), all in full-time work.”
Canada-wide, the November numbers showed gains of 29,600 full-time jobs and 49,900 part-time positions in November. The growth was concentrated in the private sector, which added 72,400 jobs last month, compared with an increase of 10,600 positions in the public sector.
The report also found a gain of 83,000 employee jobs, compared with a drop in 3,500 self-employed positions, which is a category that includes people who work in a family business without pay.
Factory jobs rose 37,400 last month, while the services sector added 42,100 positions.
British Columbia added 18,200 jobs for a 0.7 per cent increase and Quebec created 16,200 positions for a 0.4 per cent increase.
Looking at the bigger picture, employment rose 2.1 per cent across the country in the 12 months leading up to November as the economy added 390,000 net jobs. The gains were driven by full-time work, the report said.
The labour market added 441,400 full-time positions year-over-year for an increase of three per cent and its strongest 12-month period of full-time job creation in 18 years.
– Files from Canadian Press
