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Ontario’s employment outlook improved again in September. The province had very few remaining COVID-19 restrictions and case numbers continued to drop, which helped boost employment.
Here is a look at how employment in Ontario was impacted in September 2021, compiled by our employment experts at Nova Staffing. All data is from the Ontario Government September 2021 Labour Market report.
Employment Summary
In September, Ontario had 7.5 million (60.6%) employed individuals, which was up by 73,600 (1.0%) from August’s employment. This was the fourth consecutive month of employment gains, as was likely due to indoor capacity being raised for most venues and businesses.
Unemployment, as a result, dropped down to 7.3% in September, a decrease from 7.6% in August. September marked the first time employment in Ontario was above (0.1%) its pre-COVID-19 February levels since the start of the pandemic!
Employment by Age
Youth employment (ages 15-24) saw employment increase by 18,800 in September, which was up 1.9% from the previous month. Unemployment for youths also dropped to 12.5% from 13.8%.
Adult employment (ages 15-54) also added 53,700 new jobs in September, a 1.1% increase from August. Unemployment for adults did increase slightly from 6.3% in August to 6.4% in September. However, adult employment did surpass its pre-COVID February 2020 level.
Senior employment (ages 55 and up) was nearly the same in August and September. Senior unemployment dropped from 7.1% in August to 6.6% in September.
Employment by Sector
Certain sectors were hit harder by COVID-19 than others. Although restrictions lifted in July and capacity was raised in September, some industries are taking longer than others to reach their pre-COVID levels. Sectors that saw employment growth in September were led by Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (+98.8%), Public Administration (+34.0%), Information, Culture, and Recreation (+29.6%), and Educational Services (+24.3%).
Sectors that saw employment loss in September include Other Services except for Public Admin (-46.7%), Accommodation and Food Services (-44.8%), Construction (-29.7%), and Business, Building, and Other Support Services (-26.3%).
Employment by Region
Thirteen of Ontario’s CMAs saw employment growth from August 2021 to September 2021. Toronto led employment gains with 53.6, followed by St. Catharines-Niagara (9.2), Oshawa (7.4), Hamilton (5.0), Belleville (3.5), Barrie (1.6), Guelph (1.4), London (1.2), Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo (1.2), Kingston (1.0), Peterborough (0.9), Greater Sudbury (0.6), and Thunder Bay (0.4).
The three CMAs in Ontario that saw employment loss were Ottawa-Gatineau (-11.3), Windsor (-0.5), and Brantford (-0.2).
Is your company looking for help hiring top talent or need staffing solutions? Contact Nova Staffing! Our team of employment experts has over 200 years of combined industry experience and is here to help.
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