The employment numbers continue to look favourable for Sault Ste. Marie given the impacts of COVID. They are in line with what we would expect at the beginning of a normal year – softer participation and employment rates compared to other times of the year. Having said that we are once again in a state of tighter COVID restrictions – which will likely have a negative impact on upcoming employment numbers especially in hospitality/tourism and (smaller) retail-sector employment.
- Unemployment rose in April but remains relatively low at 6.7% – lower than both Ontario and Canadian levels (both at 7.5%).
- Participation and Employment rates have fallen in recent months, but this is normal for this time of year. We should expect see levels of participation and employment start to climb in the coming months as we move into the summer (at least in non-COVID times).
- The overall levels of employment have fallen as well, but again this is mainly due to lower employment numbers in Goods-Producing Occupations (manufacturing and construction), which is typical for the first part of the year. These employment levels should begin climb in the coming months.
- Online job postings in Sault Ste. Marie have risen significantly since February:
- As you might expect there is consistent demand for healthcare, essential retail and delivery related occupations;
- There is also an increase in postings related to seasonal and summer work such as construction and student/summer related jobs;
- In a sign of the times, postings for teaching related occupations made the top 10 as tutoring platforms and school boards outside of the region are looking for resources to teach/support online learning.
You can find the whole summary in the following pdf.