Although the number of unemployed in Sudbury fell in October, the local economy experienced declines in the employment level and the labour force.
Cause for concern? No, says Laurentian University?s Claude Vincent, who is a professor of economics. Not just yet.
His analysis of the monthly Statistics Canada labour report is posted on Laurentian?s Institute of Northern Ontario Research and Development (INORD) website http://inord.laurentian.ca/
He writes compared to last year, the labour market in Sudbury has outperformed the national labour market.
According to Statistics Canada, national employment rose by 33,000 in October. This continued strength in the labour market is in contrast to the United States where employment has been weak throughout 2002. Most of the national gain in employment occurred in Ontario where employment rose by 20,000.
Although employment in Sudbury fell by 1,000 in October, it has increased by 3.6 per cent over the last 12 months, Vincent said.
This 12-month increase is slightly larger than the 3.1 per cent increase experienced in both the country as a whole and Ontario.
The unemployment rate in Canada decreased slightly from 7.7 per cent in September to 7.6 per cent in October. In contrast, the participation rate and the unemployment rate both decreased in Sudbury. Participation fell by 1.3 percentage points between September and October, which represents a decline in the labour force of 1,700 workers.
During the same time period, the number of unemployed decreased by 600 in Sudbury, leading the unemployment rate to fall from 8.8 per cent to 8.3 per cent.
It would seem that most of the decrease in the number of unemployed is the result of workers leaving the labour market, Vincent said,
However, over the last year, the local economy has done well. Compared to last year, the labour force has increased by 2.4 per cent which translates into an increase of 1,900 additional workers. The number of unemployed has decreased by 9.5 per cent, that is, a decrease of 700 unemployed workers.
At the same time, the number of employed has increased by 2,600, or 3.6 per cent. In relative terms, the labour market in Sudbury has outperformed the national market.
Sudbury?s employment rate stood at 58.2 per cent in October. Among larger cities, only Saguenay at 52.0 per cent, Trois-Rivières at 55.2 per cent had lower fractions of the population employed. At the same time, only St. John?s (9.7 per cent), Saguenay (10.7 per cent), and Trois-Rivières (9.9 per cent) had higher unemployment rates.
