Ontario gains back jobs lost in recession

Canada’s unemployment rate dropped to 6.9 per cent in March, down from 7.0 per cent in February.

StatsCan says 42,900 net jobs were created during the month – about double what economists had expected, although most of them were part-time jobs.

South of the border, American employers added 192,000 employees in March, but the unemployment rate there remains unchanged at 6.7 per cent.

Ontario gained 13,400 jobs in March and the provincial unemployment rate fell to 7.3 per cent. Eric Hoskins, minister of economic development, trade and employment believes the jobs will keep coming.

“It’s a continuation of the trend in both January and February, we saw positive job creation and it shows that we are moving in the right direction in terms of increased jobs and economic growth.”

Ontario’s job market grew by almost 96,000 new jobs in 2013. The province has recovered all the jobs lost during the recession plus about 3 per cent more.

Hoskins says the government will continue to invest in infrastructure to create more work in the province.

Local breakdown (this month, with previous month in brackets):

Hamilton 5.8 (5.9)
St. Catharines-Niagara 8.3 (8.5)
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo 6.7 (6.5)
Brantford 7.4 (7.1)
Guelph 6.9 (7.0)
Toronto 8.0 (8.3)