Quick facts

In January 2019:

  • There were 12.0 million people in Ontario aged 15 years or older
    • 7.8 million (64%) were either working or actively looking for work
    • 7.3 million (61%) were employed and 81% of them had a full-time job
  • Ontario’s unemployment rate was 5.7% (447,400 unemployed people)

Employment increased in January

Employment in Ontario increased in January (41,400), after rising by 16,100 jobs in December. January’s job gain was the largest increase since July 2018.

Chart 1 shows employment in Ontario from January 2014 to January 2019.

Line graph for chart 1 shows employment in Ontario increasing from 6,843,000 in January 2014 to 7,341,900 in January 2019.

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0019-01, (seasonally adjusted data).
Download data, chart 1

Full-time vs. part-time

Both full-time (34,000) and part-time (7,300) jobs increased.

Employment increase/decrease by age

Youth employment (those aged 15 to 24) increased in January (27,900), after little change in December (1,500).

Employment for people aged 25 to 54 was unchanged in January, compared to December. Those aged 55 and older gained 13,700 jobs.

Employment in Canada increased in January (66,800), following little change in December (7,800).

Unemployment rate increased to 5.7%

Chart 2 shows unemployment rates, Ontario and Canada, January 2014 to January 2019.

Line graph for Chart 2

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0019-01, (seasonally adjusted data).
Download data, chart 2

Ontario’s unemployment rate increased to 5.7% in January from 5.4% in December, as a result of an increase in the number of people in the labour force.

Ontario’s unemployment rate has remained below 6.0% since August 2017.

Canada’s unemployment rate was 5.8% in January, up from a record low of 5.6% in December.

Unemployment rate by age

For people aged 15 to 24, the unemployment rate was 12.3% in January, up from 11.5% in December.

The unemployment rates for people aged 25 to 54 increased to 4.9% in January from 4.6% in December and to 4.1% from 3.9% for those aged 55 and older.

Lowest and highest unemployment rates

Chart 3 shows Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) with highest and lowest unemployment rates in Canada, January 2019.

Bar graph for chart 3

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0294-01, (seasonally adjusted data three-month moving average to reduce volatility caused by small sample size).
Download data, chart 3

St. Catharines-Niagara recorded the highest unemployment rate in Ontario (6.8%) in January, while St. John’s, Newfoundland recorded the highest unemployment rate in Canada (7.4%).

Guelph recorded the lowest unemployment rate in Canada in January (1.9%).

Year-over-year comparisons

In January 2019, employment in Ontario increased by 171,300 net jobs for adults 25 years and older compared to January 2018.

Employment increase and decrease by education level

Chart 4 shows Ontario employment change by highest level of education attained, aged 25 and older, January 2018 to January 2019.

Bar graph for chart 4

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0019-01, unadjusted data
Download data, chart 4

Adults with a postsecondary certificate or diploma led gains with 142,500 net new jobs, while those with a university degree gained 38,400 jobs.

Individuals with some postsecondary education recorded job losses of 55,200.

People with less than high school education also recorded job losses (20,200), while those with high school education recorded job gains of 65,800.

Unemployment rate by education level

The unemployment rate for adults aged 25 and older with postsecondary education credentials was 4.3% in January 2019, up from 4.0% a year earlier.

The unemployment rate for adults without postsecondary education credentials was 6.3%, down from 6.7% compared to January 2018.

Employment increase and decrease by occupation

Chart 5 shows Ontario employment change by occupation, January 2018 to January 2019

Bar graph for chart 5

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0297-01, unadjusted data.
Download data, chart 5

Eight of the ten major occupational groups in Ontario had net employment gains in January 2019 compared to January 2018.

Learn more about the National Occupational Classification (NOC) system.

These occupations gained the most jobs:

  • sales and service (49,800)
  • business, finance and administration (47,600)
  • trades, transport and equipment operators and related (42,700)

These occupations lost jobs:

  • management (54,900)
  • manufacturing and utilities (9,800)

Long-term unemployment increased

Chart 6 shows Ontario’s long-term unemployed (27 weeks or more) as a percentage of total unemployment, January 2011 to January 2019

Bar graph for chart 6

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0056-01, unadjusted data.
Download data, chart 6

In January 2019, an average of 70,200 people were unemployed for 27 weeks or longer, or long-term unemployed. This was up from 64,100 a year earlier.

Long-term unemployed individuals accounted for 15.5% of the total number of unemployed people in January 2019. This compared with 15.1% a year earlier.

Average time in long-term unemployment

The average time in unemployment decreased to 15.1 weeks in January 2019 from 18.1 weeks a year earlier.

Download data

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey

January 2019 Labour Market Report:

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