March 2024 employment figures showed the Brantford-Brant and Norfolk labour markets are holding steady.
The Brantford-Brant jobless rate stood still for the third straight month at 4.9% in March, according to Statistics Canada’s estimates, based on its monthly survey of local households.
Meanwhile, Norfolk’s unemployment rate was estimated to be 4.6% in March, the first time in six months a figure has been released. Statistics Canada doesn’t release some figures when there isn’t enough data. March’s rate was almost identical to the 4.5% reported last September.
Population changes continue to be the No. 1 factor influencing the labour markets at the national and provincial level, but less so locally.
Canada’s unemployment rate jumped in March by 0.3% to 6.1% – the largest increase in months – though employment only fell by an estimated 2,200 across the country. Ontario’s jobless rate climbed to 6.7%, even though 26,000 more people were working.
Brantford 2024 employment figures showed that about 400 more people were working last month, continuing slow but steady employment growth since last summer. Employment has grown by an estimated 3,500 since August, but is almost identical to March 2023 when about 79,500 people were employed.
“These numbers don’t spark great excitement and, sure, we would have liked to see more job growth,” said Danette Dalton, the workforce planning board’s executive director.
“But the fact that we’ve held steady while the population has grown is a positive. Our labour market has been able to absorb population growth, replacing workers leaving the workforce with new people.”
Dalton added that in many other communities, including most of those surrounding Brantford-Brant and Norfolk, employment gains have lagged behind population growth.
Visit Statistics Canada’s website to read their news release on the March 2024 employment numbers for Canada and Ontario.
