London-area adds 3,000 jobs as employment trend stays positive

Article content

The London-area economy added close to 3,000 jobs in November, but the region’s jobless rate still edged up last month as more people looked for work, Statistics Canada reported Friday.

Article content

Article content

In total, the London area, which also takes in St. Thomas, Strathroy and parts of Elgin and Middlesex counties, added 2,700 new positions, marking the third straight month of job gains for the region.

Article content

The recent streak follows a difficult summer for job creation, when the local economy lost about 7,300 jobs.

The positive trend, however, wasn’t reflected directly in the region’s unemployment rate that rose marginally to 6.5 per cent from October’s 6.4 per cent. That’s the result of the population growing by about 1,900 people, by Statistics Canada estimates, and more workers joining the labour force and looking for jobs.

London’s latest labour market snapshot becomes more positive when compared to other large metropolitan areas across Canada, most of which also saw jumps in their jobless rates.

According to Statistics Canada, Windsor reported the worst unemployment rate last month at 8.7 per cent, followed by Edmonton’s 8.3 per cent and Toronto’s 8.1 per cent.

At 6.5 per cent, London placed 10th among 20 markets analyzed by the federal agency.

Though 2024 was a year marked by a slower economic performance amid higher interest rates, forecasts for the region put London performing slightly better in 2025, with the Conference Board of Canada anticipating the region’s jobless rate will average six per cent.

Provincially, the picture wasn’t pretty for Ontario last month.

Statistics Canada reported employment in the province was virtually unchanged while the jobless rate shot up to 7.6 per cent, the highest rate since May 2014 excluding the pandemic years. The province’s jobless figure also was influenced by an increase in the number of people trying to land a job.

Article content

Article content

Employment across Canada rose by a modest 51,000 people in November. The jobless rate for the country, however, also edged up to 6.8 per cent, up from October’s 6.5 per cent.

The Bank of Canada will have its eye on Friday’s job report as it gears up for its interest rate announcement on Wednesday.

Forecasters are widely expecting the central bank to deliver another interest rate cut, though there hasn’t been consensus on the size of that reduction.

BMO changed its call from a quarter-percentage-point cut to a half-point reduction in the Bank of Canada’s policy interest rate following the job report.

“To be clear, this is what we believe the bank will do, not necessarily what we believe that they should do,” wrote BMO chief economist Douglas Porter.

“But the bank seems biased to ease quickly, and the high jobless rate provides them with a ready invitation.”

The central bank’s key interest rate stands at 3.75 per cent.

High interest rates have cooled the labour market significantly during the last year.

For unemployed Canadians, that’s meant longer periods without work.

Article content

The job report says 46.3 per cent of unemployed Canadians in November had not worked in the last year or had never worked, up from 39.5 per cent a year ago.

With Canadian Press files

jjuha@postmedia.com

London-area jobless rate, over the past year

• November 2023: 5.8 per cent
• December 2023: 5.5 per cent
• January 2024: 5.7 per cent
• February 2024: 5.9 per cent
• March 2024: 6.4 per cent
• April 2024: 6.4 per cent
• May 2024: 6.3 per cent
• June 2024: 6.2 per cent
• July 2024: 6.5 per cent
• August 2024: 6.5 per cent
• September 2024: 6.4 per cent
• October 2024: 6.4 per cent
• November 2024: 6.5 per cent

Article content