The London-area economy ended 2015 on a positive note, as the unemployment rate fell again in December.
Statistics Canada says the jobless rate for London-St. Thomas was 6.2% last month, down from 6.8% in November.
A closer look at the numbers shows there were 1,400 jobs created in the final month of 2015, while the number of people claiming EI dropped by 1,800. Four-hundred people left the labour force last month.
The national unemployment rate was unchanged at 7.1%, despite a net increase of 22,800 jobs.
Statistics Canada says most of the increase was the result in part-time jobs, while full-time employment actually fell in December.
“Don’t pull the curtain back to look behind the strong Canadian employment gain in December, because the picture doesn’t look nearly as pretty when you do,” says Avery Shenfeld of CIBC Economics in a note to clients.
“All told, a nice headline masking a continuing trend for weak hiring by private sector companies in Canada.”
A consensus of economists had projected the economy would add 10,000 positions last month and for the jobless rate to stay at 7.1%, according to Thomson Reuters.
By region, the report said Ontario’s unemployment rate dropped to 6.7% from 6.9% as it added 34,900 net positions in December, including increases of 26,600 jobs in the services sector and 8,200 in goods production. Of the new jobs created last month in Ontario, 42,200 of them were full-time work.
The December increase follows a drop of 35,700 jobs in November, a decline largely caused by the previous month’s rise in temporary work likely generated by the federal election.
The report released Friday also contained a year-end review that said national employment rose by 0.9% in 2015 as the labour force bulked up by 158,000 net jobs.
**with files from the Canadian Press
