/https://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/content/dam/thepeterboroughexaminer/news/peterborough-region/2022/01/07/peterborough-now-has-highest-unemployment-rate-in-canada/peterboroughsign.jpg)
Peterborough shed 2,200 jobs in December and moved ahead of Saint John, N.B. to become the census metropolitan area with the highest unemployment rate in the nation, Statistics Canada reported Friday.
Peterborough’s jobless rate jumped to 9.5 per cent from 8.4 per cent in November, the survey found.
It’s a startling contrast from a year ago when the community was pulling out of the pandemic jobs slump, posting a 6 per cent unemployment rate in December 2020.
Peterborough’s rate is higher than the national average of 5.9 per cent and the provincial average of 6 per cent.
The survey also found about 1,700 people left the local labour force in December, resulting in 62,900 people being employed and 6,600 without work, up 600 from a month ago.
By comparison, the unemployment rate in Barrie rose to 5.4 per cent in December from 4.6 per cent in November, Oshawa rose to 6.5 per cent from 6.2 per cent and Kingston dropped to 6.1 per cent from 6.5 per cent.
The local figures are for the Peterborough census metropolitan area, which includes the city, the four surrounding townships of Cavan Monaghan, Selwyn, Douro-Dummer and Otonabee-South Monaghan, along with Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations.
Statistics Canada jobless figures are based on surveys adjusted to a three-month rolling average and are seasonally adjusted. Because of its size, Peterborough has a smaller sample size than the other cities, which Statistics Canada warns can cause variability in the sampling.
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A quick glance at unemployment rates for December, by province
Here are the jobless rates last month by province (numbers from the previous month in brackets):
- Newfoundland and Labrador 11.6 per cent (10.4)
- Prince Edward Island 7.8 per cent (8.0)
- Nova Scotia 7.9 per cent (8.1)
- New Brunswick 7.9 per cent (8.5)
- Quebec 4.6 per cent (4.5)
- Ontario 6.0 per cent (6.4)
- Manitoba 5.2 per cent (5.1)
- Saskatchewan 5.4 per cent (5.2)
- Alberta 7.3 per cent (7.6)
- British Columbia 5.3 per cent (5.6)
A quick glance at unemployment rates for December, by Canadian city
Statistics Canada released seasonally adjusted, three-month moving average unemployment rates for major cities. It cautions, however, that the figures may fluctuate widely because they are based on small statistical samples. Here are the jobless rates last month by city (numbers from the previous month in brackets):
- St. John’s, N.L. 7.0 per cent (6.9)
- Halifax per cent 6.2 per cent (6.4)
- Moncton, N.B. 6.3 per cent (7.0)
- Saint John, N.B. 8.3 per cent (8.5)
- Saguenay, Que. 3.6 per cent (4.2)
- Quebec City 2.6 per cent (2.8)
- Sherbrooke, Que. 3.3 per cent (3.4)
- Trois-Rivières, Que. 5.0 per cent (4.6)
- Montreal 5.3 per cent (5.8)
- Gatineau, Que. 4.3 per cent (3.7)
- Ottawa 4.0 per cent (4.6)
- Kingston, Ont. 6.1 per cent (6.5)
- Peterborough, Ont. 9.5 per cent (8.4)
- Oshawa, Ont. 6.5 per cent (6.2)
- Toronto 7.2 per cent (7.7)
- Hamilton, Ont. 5.8 per cent (5.7)
- St. Catharines-Niagara, Ont. 7.6 per cent (7.5)
- Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Ont. 5.5 per cent (5.7)
- Brantford, Ont. 7.2 per cent (7.6)
- Guelph, Ont. 3.9 per cent (4.5)
- London, Ont. 5.7 per cent (6.4)
- Windsor, Ont. 6.9 per cent (8.1)
- Barrie, Ont. 5.4 per cent (4.6)
- Greater Sudbury, Ont. 5.7 per cent (6.2)
- Thunder Bay, Ont. 6.6 per cent (6.6)
- Winnipeg 5.4 per cent (5.7)
- Regina 5.6 per cent (5.5)
- Saskatoon 5.5 per cent (6.4)
- Calgary 8.2 per cent (8.1)
- Edmonton 6.6 per cent (7.6)
- Kelowna, B.C. 5.1 per cent (4.4)
- Abbotsford-Mission, B.C. 7.4 per cent (8.2)
- Vancouver 5.7 per cent (5.9)
- Victoria 3.9 per cent (4.0)
— The Canadian Press
