Jobless rate inches upward in February

Greater Sudbury's jobless rate crept up slightly in February, rising to 7 per cent from 6.8 per cent in January.

Compared to the 7.2 per cent rate at same time last year, however, the city is still a little further ahead.

According to Statistics Canada, Sudbury shed about 100 jobs last month, and another 100 dropped out of the labour force altogether. About 83,000 people had jobs in February, compared to the 83,100 who employed the month before. However, while the stats are seasonally adjusted, they're derived from a small sample size, and are more accurate when viewed over a longer time period.

The city's jobless rate was still a bit lower than the national rate of 7.1 per cent in February, and bested the Ontario rate of 7.6 per cent. The rate in Thunder Bay was 5.6 per cent, Barrie was 6.6 per cent and Hamilton was 5.9 per cent. Ontario cities with higher rates include London at 8 per cent, Peterborough at 8.7 per cent, Toronto at 8.3 per cent and St. Catharines at 8.5 per cent.

“In February, there were fewer people working in health care and social assistance, as well as finance, insurance, real estate and leasing,” StatsCan said in its monthly analysis. “At the same time, employment rose in other services, natural resources as well as agriculture."

The number of public sector employees declined in February, while there was little change among private sector employees and the self-employed. Employment fell among men aged 25 to 54 and was virtually unchanged for the other demographic groups.