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Employment across Ontario continued to improve in November, however, another round of lockdowns did see unemployment rise in certain sectors and demographics. Of the 12.4 million people in Ontario aged 15 and older, 7.3 million were employed in November. Although the year is now over, the pandemic continues to impact employment across the province.
Here is a quick market summary report of Ontario’s employment outlook for November 2020, compiled by our employment experts at Nova Staffing. All data is from the Ontario Government November 2020 Labour market report.
Employment Outlook
Employment in Ontario increased slightly in November from October, adding 30,600 new jobs. This is a 0.4% increase from last month, though overall, the employment rate did not change.
While unemployment increased in October, November saw unemployment decrease again. There were 786,000 unemployed residents in Ontario (9.1%), a 0.5% decrease from October’s 9.6% unemployment rate.
Employment by Age
Youth employment (15-24) was hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic and has been the slowest to recover. This age demographic did see some improvement in November, adding 12,100 new jobs that month. Unemployment for this demographic is still at 20.2%, though, the highest amongst all ages.
Adult employment didn’t see much change from October, only adding 1,700 new jobs in November. Unemployment also slightly increased for adults, up to 7.6% from 7.5% in October. Senior employment saw a decrease in October but improved in November, adding 22,800 new jobs. Unemployment for seniors also dropped to 6.5% from 7.3%.
Employment by Sector
Certain industries were hit hardest by the pandemic and closures. 57% of job losses during Feb-May were from four sectors, and these account for the majority of the jobs gained since spring.
Certain sectors have struggled to return to their pre-pandemic levels and have been gaining jobs the slowest. These include Accommodation and Food Services (-18.1%), Transportation and Warehousing (-14.2%), Business, Building, and Other Support Services (-13.3%), and Agriculture (-8.5%).
Meanwhile, other industries added jobs in November, like Forestry, Fishing, Mining, Quarrying, and Oil (+12.8%), Finance, Insurance, Real Estate, Rental and Leasing (+3.5%), Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (+2.7%), and Manufacturing (+1.7%).
Employment by Region
Employment increases and decreases have been varying based on the region in Ontario. COVID-19 has impacted regions of the province differently and lockdown restrictions have varied as well. In November, Hamilton led employment growth seeing a 2.2% increase. It was followed by Toronto (+1.5%), Kingston (+1.4%), Thunder Bay (+1.2%), Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo (+1.1%), and Oshawa (+0.6%).
If you’re looking for help fulfilling job positions or looking for hiring solutions, contact Nova Staffing today! We’re one of the best employment agencies in Toronto and have a team of HR experts ready to help you with all of your staffing needs.
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