There was very little change in Greater Sudbury’s unemployment rate in August, up to 8.7 per cent from 8.6 per cent over July, said Statistics Canada in its Monthly Labour Survey.
In comparison, Greater Sudbury’s unemployment rate in August 2020 was at 8.8 per cent.
Meanwhile, employment increased in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia in August. All other provinces recorded little or no change.
For the third consecutive month, British Columbia was the lone province with employment above its pre-pandemic level. Compared with February 2020, the employment gap was largest in Prince Edward Island (-3.4 per cent) and New Brunswick (-2.7 per cent).
Employment in Ontario rose for the third successive month (53,000; 0.7 per cent) in August, nearly all in part-time work, meaning for the second consecutive month, the unemployment rate in Ontario fell, dropping 0.4 percentage points to 7.6 per cent.
In the Toronto census metropolitan area, employment increased by 73,000 (2.1 per cent). The additional employment brought overall provincial gains since May 2021 to 242,000 (3.4 per cent).
The accommodation and food services industry contributed the bulk of the employment increase, while educational services, and information, culture and recreation also had notable gains.
In contrast, there were notable declines in manufacturing, and “other services.”
Canada’s overall unemployment rate fell to 7. 1 per cent in August with employment up by 90,000 (0.5 per cent), the third consecutive monthly increase.
Employment is within 156,000 (-0.8%) of its February 2020 level, the closest since the onset of the pandemic.
August employment gains were concentrated in full-time work (+69,000; +0.4%).
Increases were mainly in services-producing industries, led by accommodation and food services, and were spread across multiple demographic groups.
The unemployment rate peaked at 13.7 per cent in May 2020 and has trended downward since, despite some short-term increases during the fall of 2020 and spring of 2021. In the months leading up to the pandemic, the unemployment rate had hovered around historic lows and was 5.7 per cent in February 2020.
