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WATERLOO REGION — Guelph’s economy is sizzling but the Waterloo Region job market is cooler as the pandemic recovery continues, new labour figures reveal.
The rate of unemployment in neighbouring Guelph fell to 3.2 per cent in July, the lowest among big cities in Ontario and third-lowest among Canada’s biggest cities, Statistics Canada reports in its monthly labour update.
In Waterloo Region, the unemployment rate was unchanged in July at 5.1 per cent (an average over three previous months). That’s just below the Ontario unemployment rate at 5.3 per cent. It falls in the middle of Ontario’s big cities and it is in the top third among the nation’s biggest cities.
Unemployment measures the number of people in the labour force who do not have jobs and are actively looking for work.
Other labour indicators in July point to the sizzling Guelph economy.
For its size, the city has the most people who are working (employment rate) and the most people who are working or looking for work (participation rate) among Ontario cities. Guelph ranks among the top cities in Canada for employment and for participation in the workforce.
Waterloo Region continues to have a relatively high rate of employment and participation in the workforce. But it trails Guelph and Barrie in those indicators.
The regional unemployment rate has declined by more than half since peaking in August 2020 at 12.3 per cent after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, unemployment is largely unchanged this year after falling to 5.2 per cent in January.
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