The unemployment rates nationally and in Ontario didn’t change much in July but the local rate most certainly did.
The unemployment rate in the Belleville Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) in July soared to 10.2% from
6.7% in June.
That was the highest rate of any CMA in the country.
In May the local unemployment rate was 5.2%.
The Belleville CMA includes Belleville, Quinte West, Stirling-Rawdon, and Tyendinaga/Deseronto.
The national rate was up a little in July to 5.5% from 5.4% while Ontario’s went down slightly to 5.6% from June’s 5.7%.
Meanwhile the CEO of the Quinte Economic Development Commission reacted to the news.
Chris King told Quinte News that although concerning, Statistics Canada’s number should be taken with a grain of salt.
“It’s a small sample size and that can cause anomalies.”
King says the number of people employed in the Quinte region actually increased by about 3,000 from July of last year.
“What we’re seeing is more people entering the workforce which is a good thing and they’re looking for jobs so they may not all be finding jobs right away.”
King adds the local population has increased and the number of people with jobs in the area is at its second highest level in over a year.
