A slight improvement in the jobless numbers in the Windsor area.
Statistics Canada reported the June numbers on Friday which indicated that the jobless rate in the Windsor area dipped two basis points to eight per cent - which is 3.2 per cent lower than the same time last year.
The jobless rate in May for the area was 8.2 per cent.
Job postings in Windsor-Essex were down 4 per cent from May, with 4,049 total active job postings from 1,475 employers in June.
Employment in manufacturing is up 500 jobs from May to June, an increase of one per cent. Meanwhile, employment in construction is up 8.2 per cent increase from May with 1,100 new jobs.
Justin Falconer, CEO of Workforce WindsorEssex, says the manufacturing sector locally is still the star of the show.
“We’ve seen a lot of positive momentum related to NextStar and some of the other things, the third shift, and I think it’s always helpful when Stellantis continues to operate and they’re not on shutdown or et cetera. And so, that’s one of our big economic engines in the area in manufacturing.”
He says the construction sector saw a boost with new housing starts, and a number of other factors that drive up local jobs.
“The bridge construction and before that and after that as well the NextStar battery plant and some of the other major companies that located here over the last number of years and it’s really helped keep employment high in construction, especially after the real estate market really changed. But I think now we are starting to see a few more residential units get built.”
Across Canada, youth aged 15 to 24 added 33,000 jobs in June, mostly in part-time work.
Falconer says local youth employment still isn’t great.
“I just think it’s generally because the local labour market is still pretty soft... and youth having less experience than some of the adult workers around them, they’re sometimes the first not to get hired or the first to be let go, unfortunately, in these soft times.”
Windsor is now has the 7th highest unemployment rate in Canada.
The unemployment rate in Canada now sites at 6.5 per cent from 6.6 per cent in May.
-with files from AM800’s The Shift with guest host Kyle Horner