File photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo / svanhornFile photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo / svanhorn
Windsor

Local economy made significant gains in March

The addition of another 8,100 jobs in Windsor helped drive the jobless rate down to 9.8 per cent in March.

That is a decline of 0.9 percentage points from February when the rate was 10.7 per cent.

Statistics Canada released its Labour Market Survey for March 2021 Friday morning. The report looked at the week of March 14 to March 20.

A stay-at-home order had just lifted one week previous to the survey.

Windsor's Labour Participation rate also climbed from 56.9 per cent in February to 59.3 per cent.

Across Canada, the economy added a net 303,000 jobs. Full-time positions grew by 175,000, and part-time by 128,000. At 7.5 per cent, March's jobless rate was the best showing yet since the start of the pandemic, bringing employment to within 1.5 per cent of pre-COVID levels.

Self-employment grew for the first time in three months as 56,000 people started up their own businesses. However, there were also gains in retail, information, culture and recreation, and accommodation and food services.

Total hours worked is approaching levels seen in February 2020.

In Ontario, the jobless rate tumbled from 9.2 per cent in February to 7.5 per cent as another 182,000 jobs, six-tenths of the national total, were added to the provincial economy.

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