More jobs, but local unemployment rate rises to 6.2%

Peterborough’s unemployment rate rose to 6.2 per cent in October from 5.6 per cent in September, Statistics Canada reported Friday.

It’s the first time in months that Peterborough’s jobless rate has been higher than the provincial and national rates.

The national unemployment rate dipped to 5.8 per cent in October from 5.9 per cent in September, while Ontario’s rate fell to 5.6 per cent from 5.9 per cent.

Peterborough is now tied with Brantford for the 10th highest unemployment rate of Canada’s 34 census metropolitan areas.

Guelph, Ont. continues to have the lowest rate at 3.3 per cent, while St. John’s, N.L. remains with the highest rate at 9 per cent.

Nearby, Oshawa’s jobless rate rose to 5.8 per cent in October from 5.6 per cent in September, Kingston’s dipped to 5.4 per cent from 5.5 per cent while Barrie’s dropped to 5.2 per cent from 5.8 per cent in September.

Even though Peterborough’s jobless rate has risen, there’s actually more people working locally because the local labour pool has recently expanded dramatically.

Peterborough had 66,800 people employed in October, up 1,400 from September and also up 3,700 from October 2017.

Peterborough’s adjusted labour force stood at 71,200 in October, up from 69,300 in September and 66,200 in August, and from 69,300 in October 2017. Of those, 66,800 were employed and 4,400 were unemployed, compared to 63,100 and 3,700 a year ago.

Peterborough’s labour force participation rate (the proportion of people who are either employed or unemployed but looking for work out of the total working-age population) was 66.9 per cent in October, up from 65.2 per cent in September and from 63.7 per cent a year ago. It’s the first time in months that the local participation has surpassed the national average participation rate , which was 65.3 per cent in October.