WINDSOR

Windsor area jobless rate notches up in July

CTV Windsor Published Friday, August 9, 2019 11:15AM EDT Last Updated Friday, August 9, 2019 7:16PM EDT

A Welcome to Windsor sign is seen in this file photo in Windsor, Ont. (Melanie Borrelli / CTV Windsor)

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The jobless rate in the Windsor area jumped slightly in July.

According to numbers released Friday by Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate for the Windsor census metropolitan area jumped from 5.7 per cent in June to 5.9 per cent in July.

The numbers show 200 more people in the Windsor area were unemployed last month compared to June. But the figures also show more than 3,000 left the workforce entirely.

According to Justin Falconer of Workforce Windsor Essex, the number of people leaving the workforce can be attributed to the extended layoff at Windsor Assembly Plant, which can have a spillover effect on the supply chain.

Falconer says the other factor is educators, which account for roughly 1,000 people, ranging from university and college professors to elementary and secondary school teachers and educational counsellors. It's expected those numbers will rebound in September.

The national unemployment rate moved up to 5.7 per cent in July as Canada shed 24,200 jobs.

But wage growth accelerated last month to its fastest clip in more than decade with a 4.5 per cent increase.

The hike in wages -- as measured by year-over-year average hourly wage growth for all employees -- marked the indicator's strongest month since January 2009.

The reading, one of several wage measures closely watched by the Bank of Canada, was 3.8 per cent in June and 2.8 per cent in May. In Quebec, wage growth sped up to nearly 6.2 per cent, while Ontario's number was 5.1 per cent.

In terms of job creation, the economy saw its weakest three-month stretch since early 2018. Canada had been on a healthy run of monthly employment gains that began last summer.

Even with the July decline, compared to a year earlier, the numbers show Canada added 353,000 new positions -- almost all of which were full time -- for an encouraging overall increase of 1.9 per cent.

"Wage gains accelerated well beyond market expectations, suggesting that the recent pause in net hiring may be reflective of tight labour conditions," TD senior economist Brian DePratto wrote in a report Friday to clients.

The July unemployment rate remained near historic lows even after edging up to 5.7 per cent from 5.5 per cent in June. The rate was 5.4 per cent in May, which was its lowest mark since 1976.

A closer look at the numbers shows the economy lost 69,300 private-sector employee positions last month, while the public sector gained 17,500 jobs.

Youth employment fell by about 19,000 positions, pushing the jobless rate up 0.7 percentage points to 11.4 per cent.

The number of positions for core-aged women -- between 25 and 54 years old -- dropped by about 18,000.

Here are the jobless rates last month by province (numbers from the previous month in brackets):