Ontario's financial watchdog says that the province's labour market has now recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
The Financial Accountability Officer released a report stating that Ontario's labour market added 344,800 jobs in 2021, pushing the unemployment rate down to 8% from 9.6% in 2020.
But the report also notes that employment among young workers and people in low-wage, customer-facing jobs such as food service and retail remain below 2019 levels, as does the labour market in 11 of Ontario's 16 major cities.
Total female employment in Ontario last year also remained below pre-pandemic levels, with a particularly weak recovery among young females.
Early this year, as some COVID-19 restrictions were reintroduced due to the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the report says 145,700 jobs were lost and the unemployment rate rose more than a full percentage point, from 6.1% in December to 7.3% in January.
However, employment in Ontario is expected to rebound further this year as pandemic restrictions are lifted across the province this month and next.
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