Following a similar trajectory as the numbers seen nation-wide, Niagara saw its unemployment rates increase for the second consecutive month.
After posting record-low numbers in June – reporting a rate of 4.3 per cent, using seasonal unadjusted data – Niagara’s Workforce Planning Board said the number increased a percentage point, to 5.5 per cent, in
August.
Niagara’s economy also lost jobs for the second month in a row, with 3,800 fewer people employed month-over-month, following the 3,900 jobs lost from June to July.
But the board’s CEO and strategy lead, Vivian Kinnaird, called the data “a complicated story,” with unemployment rates lower now than pre-pandemic numbers (August 2019 reporting a rate of 5.7 per cent).
“In the bigger picture, the changes are fairly small between July and August, both across Ontario and also in Niagara. I think the statistics are not out-of-sync with what we’re seeing across (Canada),” she said.
While not unusual in the summer months, the labour force did decline last month, with August seeing 3,800 fewer people employed compared to July, with 900 fewer people in full-time work, and 2,900 fewer in
part-time, said Kinnaird.
Looking at the industry breakdown, the largest losses came in construction (-2,400 month-over-month), professional, scientific and technical services (-1,800), accommodation and food services (-1,500) and business,
building and other support services (-1,400).
Manufacturing saw another big jump, with a gain of 3,500 jobs in August.
Pre-pandemic, there was a trend of men in the labour force decreasing in the summer months, but with pandemic recovery, the numbers largely reversed, said Kinnaird. In August, however, the trend came back,
slightly. Lately, it is the women participation rate that has been decreasing month after month.
In August, participation rates for men dropped to 66.9 per cent from 68.3 per cent, while women increase slightly to 56.8 per cent from 56.3 per cent. In previous months, that was an element Kinnaird said she was
keeping an eye on, as women’s participation began trending downwards.
This month showed a slight adjustment, she said.
“It’s not huge, but it’s there.”
As for why the male participation numbers decreased — whether that has to do with Niagara job losses in what are considered male-dominated industries — she’s not sure.
“You just wonder if this is indicative of people just switching, moving around between sectors because the fact that there’s a decrease in the number of people working, or reporting they work in these sectors, is not
supported by the job demand,” she said, adding that the 61.8 per cent overall participation rate for the month is “fairly robust.”
“We know the jobs are still there, so people are making their own choices of where they want to work and that is in-line with everything we’re reading about.”
Because despite the job losses, job postings remain high, with 5,697 new posting in August. The largest increases, month-over-month, came in retail trade, accommodation and food services, and health care and social
assistance.
Jobs are available in most cases, people are simply not choosing to work in them right now, said Kinnaird. She does caution it is only monthly data, and not yet a recurring trend.
“Comparing jobs in demand … to where people are reporting, is not indicative that there isn’t jobs. There is,” she said. “Complicate that with it being summertime and maybe people take a pause and maybe the pandemic
has indicated that people are more willing to take a pause. It’s an interesting dynamic.”
