The unemployment rate in the London area is up a few notches.
According to Statistics Canada, the London-St. Thomas jobless rate rose to 6.5% last month, up from 6.2% in December. The slight increase comes as few jobs were created in the area and 900 more people began looking for work. Another 900 people entered the local labour force in January.
While the labour participation rate saw an increase to 60.1% from December's 59.9%, it remains among the lowest among cities in Canada.
Nationally, the unemployment rate was up to 5.9% in January, from a revised 5.8% the previous month. The number of jobs in Canada fell by 88,000, the steepest one-month decline in nine years. The economy did, however, see the addition of 49,000 full-time positions.
The Ontario jobless rate was unchanged at 5.5%. That is despite the provincial economy shedding 51,000 jobs in January.
