WINDSOR, ONT. -- The unemployment rate has dropped 12.5 per cent in in the Windsor area in July after sitting at 15.2 per cent the month before.

July job numbers show major gains as the country sees more economic recovery. According to statistics Canada the country’s labour markets grew by 419,000 jobs last month. Those results are directly linked to more areas of the economy being given the green light to reopen.

The unemployment rate also saw gains, now sitting at 11 per cent down from 12.3 in June.

While the jobless rate is trending downward, it’s not such a rosy picture for area youth. Despite the positive trends over the last few months, the impacts of COVID on employers are still being felt.

“A lot of them have had to reduce their workforce as a result, or stop hiring because of COVID,” said Corey Shenken a researcher with Workforce Windsor-Essex.

Christa Vadori is set to graduate from UWindsor business school this summer. She sees it first-hand.

“They wouldn’t anticipate in four years they’d be graduating into a pandemic, I didn’t think I would be, it’s frustrating,” she said.

Vadori is actively looking for work and willing to take any position — part-time or full-time— that will forward her changes at the next gig. But she admits it’s slim pickings.

“I’ve been trying to stick close to home, but I have applied elsewhere into the GTA and what not. There are more positions of course,” Vadori said.

She’s not alone.

Youth looking outside of Windsor-Essex is a familiar story something Shenken noticed in a recent study for ProsperUs. defining career success in Windsor-Essex.

“Another thing that stood out to me was just how many students coming out for school, have trouble finding jobs or finding employment in Windsor, especially in the field of their choice,” he said.

Made worse by a pandemic that has Windsor-Essex the only remaining region stuck in Stage 2 of economic reopening.

But Tashlyn Teskey of Workforce Windsor Essex says the soft skills learned during the pandemic could present telecommuting opportunities allowing them to work from home.

“We’re definitely seeing an increase in job posting highlighting remote work and that’s actually going to be a benefit for some of those recent grads, because they have that familiarity with video calls, and zoom calls and have a good work-from-home mentality from doing their school from home the last few months,” she said.

With Stage 3 likely around the corner — it’s believed local jobless number will continue to improve.

Teskey suggests job seekers consider public service — where a large chunk of the workforce is set to retire in the coming years.