Ontario’s employment outlook continued to improve in August 2021. The province moved into Stage 3 of COVID-19 reopening in the middle of July, which helped boost employment. Those effects continued into August.
Here is a look at how employment in Ontario was impacted in August 2021, compiled by our employment experts at Nova staffing. All data is from the Ontario Government August 2021 Labour Market report.
Employment Summary
In August, Ontario had 7.4 million (60.1%) employed individuals, adding 53,000 jobs. This was a 0.7% increase from July, where the employment rate was 59.8%. This increase was likely a lingering effect of the province entering Stage 3 of pandemic reopening.
Unemployment was also positively impacted. In August, there were 607,500 (7.6%) individuals, which was a 5.4% decrease from the previous month’s rate.
Employment by Age
Youth employment (15-24) saw 26,500 new jobs in August. This was an increase of 2.7% from July. Unemployment for this demographic also improved, dropping to 13.8% from 14.5% the previous month.
Adult employment (25-54) also improved in August. This demographic added 8,500 new jobs, a 0.2% monthly increase. However, unemployment also dropped from 6.5% in July to 6.3% in August. Senior employment (55+) added 18,200 new jobs, a 1.1% increase, following a 1.1% decrease in July. Unemployment for seniors was 7.1%, down from 8.1% the previous month.
Employment by Sector
Some industries continued to be hit harder in terms of employment than others. While the province moved into Stage 3 of reopening in July, restrictions were still in place that impacted employment in certain industries.
Sectors that saw employment growth include Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (+80.6%), Educational Services (+19.9%), Public Administration (+18.4%), and Manufacturing (+6.1%).
Not every industry was lucky enough to have employment gains. The sectors that saw the greatest employment loss and were the furthest from their pre-pandemic employment levels were Other Services (Except Public Admin.) (-39.2%), Accommodation and Food Services (-29.6%), Construction (-29.6%), and Business, Building, and Other Support Services (-28.3%).
Employment by Region
Thirteen of Ontario’s sixteen CMA’s saw employment growth in August 2021. Regions that saw the most employment growth was led by Toronto (+70.6%) and followed by St.Catharines-Niagara (+7.2%), Hamilton (+4.7%), Oshawa (+4.2%), Windsor (+2.3%), Belleville (+2.2%), Kingston (+2.2%), London (+1.9%), Guelph (+1.3%), Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo (+1.3%), Thunder Bay (+0.6%), Greater Sudbury (+0.4%), and Brantford (+0.1%).
Only three regions saw employment loss in August. These were Ottawa-Gatineau (-5.5%), Peterborough (-1.7%), and Barrie (-0.1%).
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