Ontario's Financial Accountability Office (FAO) says 2019 was a banner year for the province's labour market.
The FAO, an independent entity headed by a non-partisan Financial Accountability Officer, released its yearly labour report Thursday morning. Led by growth in the private sector, Ontario's economy added a net total of 210,000 jobs in 2019, the biggest annual job gain ever recorded. The standard unemployment rate in Ontario for the year held steady at 5.6 per cent from the year before, the lowest jobless rate since 1989.
The private sector saw an increase of 123,000 full-time jobs, or 2.6 per cent, and 78,000 self-employed positions, a seven per cent increase.
Hourly wages were also on the rise in Ontario in 2019, according to the report. The average wage for all workers rose by 3.6 per cent to $28.34 per hour, the highest since 2008. When adjusted for consumer price inflation, it came out to a 1.7 per cent increse.
"Solid wage gains were recorded in professional, scientific, and technical services; manufacturing and construction," read the report. "In contrast, workers in the broader public sector recorded more modest wage gains. For example, wages for health care and social assistance workers increased by just half a per cent on average, while average education sector wages increased by 1.7 per cent."
Despite the positive job picture painted by the FAO, more work still needs to be done.
"Ontario's labour market continues to face important challenges," the report summary said. "An uneven distribution of labour market gains across the province's communities, a surge in self-employment which can be precarious, and a decline in average hours worked per employee reflecting rising part-time employment."
The Greater Toronto Area accounted for by far the highest distribution of job gains, with a whopping 65.9 per cent. Ottawa is a distant second at 8.1 per cent. Windsor-Essex came in sixth in the survey with a 2.5 per cent share of job gains, and London-Middlesex was ninth at 1.3 per cent.
Self-employed people without staff accounted for two out of every five new workers in Ontario last year. However, the report noted that this type of employment lacked the security enjoyed by those with standard work rules.
Average hours worked hit an all-time low in 2019, said the FAO, at 32.3 hours per week. Sectors with the most significant declines in hours worked include health care, social work, public assistance, retail and wholesale trade.
The Financial Accountability Officer, Peter Weltman, was selected in 2018 by a committee of MPPs representing all of Ontario's recognized political parties. He is serving a five-year term.
The entire report is available on the FAO's official website.
