September 2020 Labour Market Update

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

September Unemployment Rate: Brantford 8.1% [-] Ontario 9.5% [-] Canada 9.0% [-]

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.

Overview from Statistics Canada

Visit the Statistics Canada page for full information.

Employment rose by 378,000 (+2.1%) in September, bringing employment to within 720,000 (-3.7%) of its pre-COVID February level

Most of the employment increase in September was in full-time work, which rose by 334,000 (+2.1%), building on gains of 206,000 (+1.4%) in August.

The number of Canadians who were employed but worked less than half their usual hours for reasons likely related to COVID-19 fell by 108,000 (-7.1%) in September.

Among Canadians who worked most of their usual hours, the proportion working from home edged down from August to September, from 26.4% to 25.6%.

Employment increased in every province except New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island in September, with the largest gains in Ontario and Quebec.

Self-employment was little changed in September. Compared with February, self-employment was down 6.0%, while the number of employees was within 3.3% of its pre-pandemic level.

Employment among core-aged women (25 to 54 years old) increased for the fifth consecutive month (+134,000; +2.3%) in September, outpacing core-age men. The increase was split between full-time and part-time work. Employment for this group was within 2.1% of pre-COVID employment levels—the closest of the major demographic groups.

Employment among core-age men rose by 61,000 (+1.0%) in September, driven by full-time gains. This brought core aged men to within 2.4% of their pre-COVID employment level.

For both mothers (+0.9%) and fathers (+1.5%), September employment was on par with pre-pandemic levels (not seasonally adjusted).

Employment growth was strong for young women (+62,000 or +5.7%) and men (+66,000 or +6.0%) aged 15 to 24 in September. Despite these increases, employment for Canadian youth remained 10% below February levels, much further behind the recovery in the other major demographic groups.

Compared with September 2019, the number of low-wage employees was down by more than one-fifth (-761,000) in September 2020 (not seasonally adjusted).

The unemployment rate declined for the fourth consecutive month in September, falling 1.2 percentage points to 9.0%

There were 1.8 million unemployed Canadians in September, down 214,000 (-10.5%) from August and continuing the four-month downward trend from the record-high 2.6 million unemployed people in May.

The majority of unemployed people (approximately 1.5 million) were looking for work.

The number of people who wanted to work but did not search for a job (580,000) has been trending downward since peaking at 1.5 million in April.

The unemployment rate of Black Canadians dropped 5.9 percentage points to 11.7% in September, while the rate for Filipino Canadians declined by 4.2 percentage points to 8.5%.

The unemployment rate for male youth aged 15 to 24 remained the highest among all major demographic groups at 20.5% in September, although it was down 5.1 percentage points from August.

Employment continued to increase in both the services-producing (+2.1%) and the goods-producing (+2.0%) sectors in September

In services, monthly gains were led by accommodation and food services (+72,000), educational services (+68,000) as well as information, culture and recreation (+56,000).

In the goods sector, employment gains were largest in manufacturing (+68,000).

Employment was 3.6% below its pre-COVID February level in the services sector, and 4.3% below in the goods-producing sector.

Compared with February, total employment was down 720,000 (-3.7%), with three-quarters of this decline coming from four industries: accommodation and food services, retail trade, construction, and transportation and warehousing.

While some industries face a long recovery to pre-COVID employment levels, some sectors, including manufacturing, have almost fully recovered.

Employment in September is higher than it was in February in educational services.

The proportion of Canadians receiving Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) or regular Employment Insurance payments fell from 16.1% in August to 13.5% in September

One in five (21.8%) CERB recipients in September were either currently self-employed or had been self-employed in the last 12 months.

Local Top Line

• September Unemployment Rate: Brantford 8.1% [-] Ontario 9.5% [-] Canada 9.0% [-]
• The local unemployment rate decreased by 1.7 month over month.
• The local labour force expanded by 400 month over month.
• The number of employed increased by 1,600 month over month.
• The number of unemployed decreased by 1,300 month over month.
• When compared to the surrounding CMAs of Hamilton, Niagara, Waterloo, Guelph, and London, Brantford’s unemployment rate is 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