January 2025 employment figures showed that Brantford recorded the lowest jobless rate in Ontario, though employment actually fell locally last month.
The Brantford-Brant unemployment rate dropped to 5% in January, down from December’s 5.1%, even though an estimated 500 fewer people were employed, according to Statistics Canada’s seasonally adjusted figures, based on a survey of some local households.
Canada added 76,000 jobs in January, the third straight month of employment gains, and the unemployment rate dipped to 6.6%. Over the last three months Canada has added 211,000 jobs. Employment rose in Ontario by 39,000 positions, but the jobless rate climbed 0.1% to 7.6%.
The Brantford area edged out Thunder Bay, at 5.1%, for lowest unemployment rate in Ontario. Brantford beat neighbouring communities by a wider margin, with St. Catharines-Niagara being the closest at 6.1%.
Despite the strong numbers, the Workforce Planning Board of Grand Erie is taking a cautious tone.
“We’ve heard a less positive story from the Employment Ontario organizations that provide help to jobseekers,” said Danette Dalton, the planning board’s executive director. “They report that many local employers aren’t hiring and that jobseekers are frustrated and discouraged.”
Dalton said the number of residents not in the labour force – neither employed nor unemployed – jumped last September and has remained stubbornly high since then.
“The number of youths 15 to 24 not in the labour force has increased the most, indicating that they have been hit the hardest by the slowdown in hiring,” she said.
Dalton said it is unclear what the threat of American tariffs on Canadian goods has or will have on local hiring, but that the planning board is investigating ways it can support businesses if they are impacted.
The planning board’s Grand Erie Jobs platform saw a sizeable jump in new online job postings in January, with 1,600, up from about 1,000 in December. However, the total number of active jobs postings, which includes some carried over from the month before, was down.
Visit Statistics Canada’s website to read their news release on the January 2025 employment numbers for Canada and Ontario.
