For the second straight month London’s jobless rate has climbed as more people entered the work force.

According to Statistics Canada the London-St. Thomas area added roughly 2,600 jobs last month but was offset by 3,600 people re-entering the labour force.

London’s unemployment rate fell to as low as 5.9 per cent in June before climbing back up to 6.3 per cent in July.

It’s a similar story for the national unemployment rate which rose to 0.2 per cent  to seven per cent despite adding 12,000 jobs.  

The overall increase in the number of jobs came as full-time employment grew in August nationally, offset in part by a drop in part-time work.

The number of full-time jobs nationally increased by 54,400, while part-time employment dropped by 42,400.

By the numbers: A quick look at August unemployment (previous month in brackets):

  • Unemployment rate: 7.0 per cent (6.8)
  • Employment rate: per cent 61.3 (61.3)
  • Labour force participation rate: per cent 65.9 (65.7)
  • Number unemployed: 1,346,100 (1,306,000)
  • Number working: 17,966,000 (17,954,000)
  • Youth (15-24 years) unemployment: 13.1 per cent (13.2)
  • Men (25 plus) unemployment: per cent 6.3 (6.1)
  • Women (25 plus) unemployment: per cent 5.4 (5.2)

With files from The Canadian Press