March marked yet another increase for London’s unemployment rate.
According to Statistics Canada, London’s jobless rate grew to 8.2 per cent last month. That’s up from 8 per cent in February.
Canada's economy showed signs of thawing out from a long, bitter winter last month, churning out an unexpectedly high 42,900 net new jobs that helped shave the unemployment rate to 6.9 per cent -- matching a post-recession low.
The Canadian jobs gain, although mostly part-time, was about double what economists had anticipated and more than wipes out February's 7,000 dip.
The loonie gained ground after the announcement. It had been at 90.69 cent cents US about an hour before the Canadian and U.S. government jobs reports and rose to 91.2 cents US shortly after they were released.
At 6.9 per cent, the Canadian jobless rate matches the lowest point it's been since the 2008-09 recession. The employment increase did not budge the participation rate from 66.2 per cent, however, as more Canadians began looking for work in March.
The other surprise in the Statistics Canada report was that the vast majority of the new jobs last month -- 32,500 -- went to young Canadians, the 15-24 age group that has mostly been left behind during the recovery.
Statistics Canada said over the past 12 months, employment in Canada has risen by about 190,000 and the number of hours worked by 1.1 per cent.
With files from The Canadian Press
