​December unemployment rate increases to four per cent, says labour market planning board

Employment in the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula economic region increased by 2,600 (1.5 per cent) in December, with gains in part-time employment (7.8 per cent; 2,700) partially offset by losses in full-time employment (0.1 per cent; 100).

That's the word from the Four County Labour Market Planning Board.

Last month, the unemployment rate in the region increased by 0.1 of a percentage point to four per cent. Meanwhile, the provincial unemployment rate decreased 0.2 of a percentage point to seven per cent, both unadjusted for seasonality.

Employment in the region increased in the goods-producing sector (2.1 per cent; 1,400) as well as increased in the services-producing sector (1.1 per cent; 1,200).

In December, the region’s overall population, aged 15-plus, increased by 200; whereas, the labour force size increased by 3,000 people, resulting in the number of people not in the labour force to decrease by 2,800. This increased the region’s participation rate by one percentage point to 62.8 per cent, the highest for the region in the 2025 calendar year.

The goods-producing sector saw an increase in overall employment numbers in December (1,400, 2.1 per cent), with gains experienced in agriculture (+1,200, +11.1 per cent), followed by utilities (+800, +6.7 per cent) and construction (+800, +3.3 per cent). On the other hand, manufacturing experienced an employment decrease (-1,400, -7.8 per cent).

Overall employment in the services-producing sector saw an increase of +1.1 per cent (+1,200 people) in December. Other services (except public administration) experienced the largest percentage growth (+1,400, +15 per cent) in employment, followed by educational services (+600, +7.4 per cent), finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing (+300, +6.3 per cent) and health care and social assistance (+1,300, +5.3 per cent).

On the other hand, public administration experienced the biggest percentage decrease in employment (-700, -14 per cent), followed by professional, scientific and technical services (-1,200, -9.3 per cent), information, culture and recreation (-500, -7.8 per cent) and transportation and warehousing (-200, -6.1 per cent).

“We continue to see positive signs for our region with the increase in participation rates of those employed or seeking employment and the decrease of those not in the labour force,” says Dana Soucie, executive director for the Four County Labour Market Planning Board.

“As the year wraps up, we will soon finalize our review of annual changes and trends to be released in the 2025 Local Labour Market Plan in February. We look forward to seeing you at our virtual public consultation session, Jan. 13, where we will dive into these trends and provide an opportunity to engage in our findings.”

Current job postings for the Bruce, Grey, Huron, Perth region have increased over time since the pandemic and can be found at www.connect2JOBS.ca. https://employmentbghs.ca/jobs/ The current number of job postings exceeds 1,200.