Windsor-Essex’s unemployment rate fell to 7.3 per cent in September, marking the fifth straight month of improvement. But Justin Falconer, CEO of Workforce WindsorEssex, says the bigger story is the region’s recent hiring momentum, particularly in the private sector.
Falconer told AM800’s Live and Local with guest host Steve Martin that Windsor-Essex has added more than 13,000 jobs over the past three months, with most of that growth coming from private-sector employers, while healthcare, transportation and warehousing have also seen gains.
“Manufacturing remains quite strong. We’ve seen significant year over year growth in manufacturing. We’ve added 2,700 manufacturing jobs in the last 12 months,” Falconer said.
Falconer says recent hiring activity suggests the momentum could continue.
More than 1,000 job seekers attended a recent Costco hiring event, while another 1,400 people took part in a regional employment fair.
“Those Costco jobs that are coming in East Windsor, those numbers haven’t even hit the numbers that we’re reporting today. So we’re expecting next month’s numbers to really reflect maybe some of the new hiring that’s come out of Costco. I think there’s some good movement that’s happened in the last three months, especially in this area,” Falconer said.
Despite the positive trend, Falconer says younger workers continue to face challenges finding employment.
“Youth unemployment is at about 17.6 per cent, which is about almost 10 points worse than sort of the general unemployment rate. But on the other hand, you know, 55 years and older, you know, the unemployment rate is 4.4 per cent,” he said.
Statistics Canada said the national economy lost 68,000 jobs in September, and the unemployment rate ticked higher to 6.5 per cent.