Quick facts

In July 2019:

  • There were 12.1 million people in Ontario aged 15 years or older
    • 7.9 million (65%) were either working or actively looking for work
    • 7.4 million (61%) were employed and 82% of them had a full-time job
  • Ontario's unemployment rate was 5.7% (448,200 unemployed people)

Employment decreased in July

Employment in Ontario decreased in July (10,700), after decreasing by 7,000 jobs in June.

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

Line graph for chart 1 shows employment in Ontario increasing from 6,843,000 in January 2014 to 7,420,300 in July 2019.

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0287-01, (seasonally adjusted data).

Download data, chart 1

Full-time vs. part-time

Part-time employment declined by 47,400 and accounted for all the net job losses. Full-time jobs increased by 36,600.  

Employment increase/decrease by age

Youth employment (those aged 15 to 24) decreased by 14,600 jobs in July, after decreasing by 8,600 jobs in June.

Employment for people aged 25 to 54 increased by 16,700 in July, compared to June. Meanwhile, employment for those aged 55 and older declined by 12,800 jobs.

Employment in Canada declined by 24,200 in July, after remaining unchanged in June.

Unemployment rate increased to 5.7%

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

Line graph for Chart 2.

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0287-01, (seasonally adjusted data).

Download data, chart 2

Ontario’s unemployment rate increased to 5.7% in July from 5.4% in June. Ontario’s unemployment rate has remained at or below 6.0% since August 2017.

Canada’s unemployment rate increased to 5.7% in July from 5.5% in June.

Unemployment rate by age

For people aged 15 to 24, the unemployment rate was 12.9% in July, up from 12.0% in June.

The unemployment rates for people aged 25 to 54 increased to 4.6% in July from 4.4% in June and increased to 4.3% from 4.1% 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, July 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

Windsor recorded the highest unemployment rate in Ontario in July (5.9%), while St. John’s, Newfoundland recorded the highest unemployment rate in Canada (7.7%).

Brantford recorded the lowest unemployment rate in Ontario in July (4.5%), while Québec City recorded the lowest unemployment rate in Canada (2.3%).
 

Year-over-year comparisons

Over the first seven months of 2019, employment in Ontario increased by 165,200 net jobs for adults 25 years and older compared seven months of 2018.

Employment increase and decrease by education level

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

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 university degree led gains with 128,400 net new jobs, followed by those with a postsecondary certificate or diploma (60,200)

Individuals with some postsecondary education recorded job losses of 46,300.

People with less than high school education also recorded job losses (10,200), while those with high school education recorded job gains of 33,100.

Unemployment rate by education level

The unemployment rate for adults aged 25 and older with postsecondary education credentials was 4.1% in the first seven months of 2019, down from 4.2% a year earlier.

The unemployment rate for adults without postsecondary education credentials was 6.2%, up from 6.0% a year ago.

Employment increase and decrease by occupation

Chart 5 shows Ontario employment change by occupation, July 2018 year-to-date to July 2019 year-to-date.

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 over the first seven months of 2019 compared to a year earlier.

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

These occupations gained the most jobs:

  • sales and service (53,300)
  • trades, transport and equipment operators (46,200)
  • natural and applied sciences and related (40,000)

These occupations lost jobs:

  • manufacturing and utilities (21,600)
  • management (1,800)

Long-term unemployment decreased

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

Bar graph for chart 6.

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

Download data, chart 6

Over the first seven months of 2019, an average of 68,200 people were unemployed for 27 weeks or longer, or long-term unemployed. This was down from 73,800 a year earlier.

Long-term unemployed individuals accounted for 14.9% of the total number of unemployed people in the first seven months of 2019. This compared with 16.7% a year earlier.

Average time in long-term unemployment

The average time in unemployment decreased to 15.5 weeks over the first seven months of 2019, down from 17.2 weeks a year earlier.

Download data

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey

July 2019 Labour Market Report: 

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