Statistics Canada says the economy added 55,000 jobs in December, before COVID-19 cases began spiking at the end of the month.
The agency reported the unemployment rate was 5.9 per cent for the month, compared with 6.0 per cent in November.
It was the lowest unemployment rate since February 2020 before the pandemic when it was 5.7 per cent.
The overall increase in jobs in December was due to a gain in full-time jobs of 123,000, while part-time employment fell by 68,000 for the month.
The unemployment rate in Windsor saw a drop of over a full percentage point to 6.9 per cent in December, down from 8.1 per cent in November.
Provincewide, the unemployment rate for December was 6.0 per cent, down from 6.4 per cent in November.
- with files from the Canadian Press