COVID hands Ontario more losses than ever

Ontario lost more than 350,000 jobs in 2020, the greatest annual decline on record, causing the province's unemployment rate to jump to 9.6 per cent, the highest it has been in nearly three decades.

According to figures released Thursday by the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO), 355,300 jobs were lost in the province last year, largely as a result of the pandemic.

“The pandemic,” the report says, “intensified the challenges faced by vulnerable groups, including immigrants, mothers with young children, and workers in low-wage jobs. The disruptions triggered by the pandemic could cause lasting structural changes and result in an uneven job recovery.”

More Ontarians worked fewer hours last year, bringing the number of workers affected by the pandemic to more than 765,000, or about one in 10 jobs.

The FAO provides independent analysis on the state of the province's finances, as well as trends in Ontario's economy and other related matters.

Its latest report compares figures from 2020 to those from 2019.

Of the jobs lost, about 40 per cent were held by young workers, with the youth unemployment rate hitting 22 per cent, the highest reported by the FAO, whose figures date back to 1977. The previous high was 17.7 per cent in both 1992 and 1993.

Women suffered more job losses than men in all age groups.

Overall, women accounted for just over 200,000 of the job losses, compared to just over 150,000 for men.

Meanwhile, the hardest-hit cities were Peterborough and Windsor, where employment fell by 13.5 and 10.9 per cent, respectively. Barrie and London reported slight employment gains of 0.6 and 1.3 per cent, respectively. Ottawa saw a 5.3-per-cent drop in employment. Between February and December, though, that figure was slightly higher, at 5.8 per cent, representing a loss of about 34,300 jobs.

Ottawa's smaller job losses compared to other metropolitan areas, the report notes, reflects “employment gains in industries that could support working from

home, which partially offset losses in other industries.”

In terms of employment sectors, those with close customer contact, extensive restrictions and limited capacity to work from home were most affected. The accommodation and food services industry was hammered, losing more than 110,000 jobs. Retail trade employment fell by 47,000 jobs, while transportation and warehousing lost more than 38,000 jobs. Health care and social assistance, construction, educational services, information, culture and recreation, and manufacturing all experienced job losses of between 24,000 and 30,500.

The finance and insurance sector, meanwhile, gained almost 33,000 jobs, while public administration grew by nearly 9,000 positions.

Ontario's unemployment rate of 9.6 per cent last year is the highest recorded since 1993, when it reached 10.9 per cent.