A boost in part-time employment numbers across the country in January marked the fourth employment gain in the last six months, according to Statistics Canada.
Friday’s release of the Labour Force Survey showed a 43,000 increase in part-time employment compared to the previous month, lowering the unemployment rate 0.1 percentage point to 8.3%.
Employment in Ontario was up 30,000 but the unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.2%. "The labour force has expanded, this is why the unemployment rate remained unchanged," said Judy Hosein, labour analyst, Statistics Canada. "I think for Ontario we can say safely it is good news."
Full-time employment showed little change, but has trended up during the last year, she said. Despite the increase, overall employment levels still remain 280,000 below the numbers reported in October 2008.
Most of the gains in part-time employment were driven by women between the ages of 25 to 54 and youths, aged 15 to 24.
According to the report "this was the first notable increase for youth since the start of the employment downturn in the fall of 2008." In January, employment for youths was up 29,000, lowering the unemployment rate to 15.1%, down from 16%.
Employment numbers for women have been on a slight upward trend, with an increase of 32,000 reported for women between the ages of 25 to 54 in January and an unemployment rate of 6.3%.
During the same month, the unemployment rate for core-aged men was 7.9%, with employment numbers almost unchanged since the summer.
The largest increases were reported in business, building and other support services as well as in retail and wholesale trade. The highest losses were reported among professional, scientific and technical services as well as agriculture.
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