January 2020 Labour Market Update

The latest Statistics Canada local labour market report customized for the Brantford CMA for last month is now available.

January Unemployment Rate: Brantford 4.3% [+] Ontario 5.2% [-] Canada 5.5% [-]

Be sure to review the participation rate and the employment rate (reported as percentages), as well as the labour force, the employed, and the unemployed values (reported as absolute numbers). These give a better picture of changes in the market.

Labour Market Reports

The report includes annual rates for the last 10 years, comparing Brantford to surrounding CMAs as well as the provincial and national levels.

Statistics Canada Summary

For Canada and Ontario, Statistics Canada reports that, “"In January, employment gains were observed in Quebec, Manitoba, and New Brunswick. Fewer people were employed in Alberta, while there was little change in the other provinces....

Employment in the goods-producing sector increased by 49,000 in January, with gains in manufacturing (+21,000), construction (+16,000) and agriculture (+12,000). In the 12 months to January, construction and agriculture led the employment growth in the goods sector.

Overall, while the services-producing sector saw little employment change in January, there were fewer workers in health care and social assistance (-16,000). However in the 12 months to January, employment in the services sector grew by 236,000 (+1.6%) with gains spread across several industries, mainly finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing; professional, scientific and technical services; and health care and social assistance.

In January, there was little change in the number of employees both in the private and public sectors, as well as in self-employment. In the 12 months to January, public sector employment rose by 107,000, similar to the increase in the number of private sector employees (+106,000). Over the same period, the number of self-employed workers rose by 55,000....

Since the start of 2019, employment for youth aged 15 to 24 increased by 58,000 (+2.4%). All of the gains over the past 12 months were attributable to youth aged 20 to 24. Compared with January 2019, the unemployment rate for youth aged 20 to 24 fell a full percentage point to 8.1% in January 2020, while it was little changed for youth aged 15 to 19 (14.4%).

For core-aged workers (25 to 54), the upward employment trend that started in 2018 ended at the start of the third quarter of 2019. Since then, employment has been relatively stable for this group of workers. In this age group, the unemployment rate in January 2020 stood at 4.9% for men and 4.7% for women."

Top Line

• January Unemployment Rate: Brantford 4.3% [+] Ontario 5.2% [-] Canada 5.5% [-]
• The local unemployment rate increased by 0.5 month over month.
• The local labour force contracted by 700 month over month.
• The number of employed decreased by 1,000 month over month.
• The number of unemployed increased by 300 month over month.
• When compared to the surrounding CMAs of Hamilton, Niagara, Waterloo, Guelph, and London, Brantford’s unemployment rate remains the lowest.

Note: Brantford's unemployment reflects a 3 month moving average, whereas Ontario and Canada are monthly figures. The sample CMA breakdown for Brantford area is detailed in text at the Stats Canada website: http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p3VD.pl?Function=getVD&TVD=117159&CVD=117161&CPV=543&CST=01012011&CLV=2&MLV=3