More jobs are being created in Ontario, yet labour force participation has gone down, says a new report that reviewed the province’s labour market performance in 2024.
Released by the Financial Accountability Office (FAO) on April 24, the report showed that the unemployment rate in Ontario increased to 7 percent in 2024 from 5.6 percent in 2023. Yet despite a positive job-creation trend in 2024, with a 1.7 percent increase and 140,000 jobs added, the rate of unemployment grew by more than one percentage point for the first time since the mid-1970s.
“In all other years when the unemployment rate increased by at least one percentage point, the economy was in a recession and experienced job losses,” the FAO said in a news release.
Several factors were looked at in examining the relationship between unemployment and the steady increase in new jobs. Worker demographics, types of employment, major industries, various locations, and wage growth in relation to inflation were among the aspects the FAO considered.
Core-aged workers saw a growth in employment throughout 2024, with an increase of 2.8 percent. On the other hand, youth and older worker employment rates declined.
In the category of young and older workers, there was a drop in workforce participation for males, the report found. Among male workers aged 15 to 24, there was an increased unemployment rate of 2.2 percent, while unemployment saw a 0.6 percent increase for those aged 55 and older.
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Most types of work saw gains in employment except for temporary jobs. Part-time jobs grew at a greater rate than full-time jobs.
More Ontarians are working in the public sector in recent years, which correlated to an increase in the employment rate, while employment in the private sector also went up.
“The post-pandemic period has seen strong gains in public sector employment, notably in health care, educational services and public administration. As a result, the share of public sector workers in total employment reached 19.9 per cent in 2024, the highest since 1994,” the report said.
More Ontarians were reported as self-employed in 2024 compared to the previous year. However, the current rate of self-employment is still 3.1 percent lower than the 2019 level before the pandemic.
Permanent paid employment increased, while temporary employment saw a decrease of 0.2 percent.
Many major industries in Ontario experienced an increase in employment in 2024, while several saw a decline. The greatest increase was 7.5 percent in the professional, scientific and technical services industry, followed by the health care and social assistance industry and education services.
Employment rates dropped for several major industries, including construction, wholesale and retail, agriculture, utilities, and accommodation and food services. Construction had the largest decline of 26,500, or 4.4 percent.
The FAO measured rates of employment for 15 census metropolitan areas in Ontario in 2024. Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Oshawa, and Ottawa-Gatineau had the greatest increases. The areas with the largest decreases in employment were Barrie, Peterborough, and Greater Sudbury.
“The average hourly wage of Ontarians increased 5.2 per cent to $36.44 in 2024, the third fastest pace on record back to 1998 and more than double the 2.4 per cent annual consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate,” the report said.
All major demographic groups and categories of labour experienced wage growth that was greater than the rate of inflation.
The Epoch Times contacted Ontario’s Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade for comment but did not hear back by publication time.
