LONDON, ONT. -- Despite an ongoing lockdown London’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.7 per cent in January.
While the report for January from Statistics Canada is positive it comes with a warning that it does not yet capture the full effect of the latest lockdown.
The region added roughly 3,000 new jobs making for another month of growth in the London and area’s labour force.
Province wide there has been a loss of more than 154,000 jobs since the second lockdown and stay at home orders, which remain in place.
Meanwhile the national unemployment rate rose back up towards double digits at 9.4 per cent.
In the spring the country saw record numbers but came back down as lockdowns eased into the summer.
The job reports for February and March may provide a clearer picture of how the local economy has been hit since the lockdown.
