Windsor shaves 1.5 per cent off its unemployment rate

Windsor's jobless rate in November tumbled 1.5 percentage points to 8.1 per cent as the local economy added 5,500 jobs.

The city's unemployment rate in October was 9.6 per cent, and instead of having the highest jobless rate in Canada, Windsor had the tenth highest. Last month, the dubious honour went to Kelowna, B.C., which recorded 11 per cent unemployment.

According to Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey, another 2,700 people entered Windsor’s labour force last month, while the labour participation rate went from 65.2 per cent to 65.7 per cent.

(Photo of a healthcare worker courtesy of Hybrid Images / Royalty-free / Connect Images / Getty Images Plus)

Across Canada, employment grew by 54,000 net positions, driven largely by part-time work. Youth aged 15 to 24 filled most of those positions as the youth unemployment rate fell 1.3 per cent to 12.8 per cent.

Job growth last month helped push Canada's jobless rate down 0.4 percentage points to 6.5 per cent, while the employment rate rose to 60.9 per cent, an increase of one tenth-of-a-percentage point.

Healthcare and social assistance saw the greatest job growth as another 46,000 workers joined that industry. Accommodation and food services saw a 14,000 jump in jobs, and 11,000 people joined the natural resources industry.

Wholesale and retail trade lost 34,000 positions.

Public sector employment climbed by another 52,000 positions, but the public sector and those who are self-employed reported little change from October.

(Photo of a worker in manufacturing courtesy of Chris Ryan / Royalty-free / OJO Images / Getty Images Plus)

Canada recorded 1.5 million unemployed last month as 80,000 people found work, a 19.6 per cent drop, indicating job seekers were more likely to find work in November.

Fewer people looked for a job in Ontario, pushing the unemployment rate down 0.3 percentage points to 7.3 per cent.

This month's survey focused on how secure Canadians felt in their employment for the next six months at least. It found 73.6 per cent believed their job was stable, down 4.1 per cent from November 2023, the last time data was available.

The percentage of workers who believed finding another job with a similar salary would be easy fell 6.2 per cent from November 2023 to 42.8 per cent.

Average hourly wages also rose by another $1.27 an hour, or 3.6 per cent, to $37.00.