The following article appeared in the September 15 edition of the Guelph Mercury:
Guelph has the lowest unemployment rate of any city in the country, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.
Numbers released by StatsCan this month indicate the seasonally adjusted three-month moving average unemployment rate for the city was 4.7 per cent in August.
This compares to the Canadian average of 7.3 per cent. The city’s unemployment rate in July was calculated to be 5.9 per cent.
The StatsCan numbers suggest 3,900 people are looking for work in Guelph and that its labour force is 82,500 workers. The numbers were the best reported since June 2008, prior to the recent recession.
Between August 2009 and August 2010, unemployment in Guelph averaged 6,900 people.
“New businesses moving to Guelph and many manufacturers hiring over the past six months have made a big difference in the local employment numbers,” according to the Guelph Chamber of Commerce, in a blog post published about the results Thursday.
“Guelph manufacturers are going further afield to find welders and experienced (technical workers for industrial workplaces called) CNC operators. Construction and health care have also been active locally and across Ontario.”
Darren Pearson, an employee with Second Chance Employment Services, said many jobs are available in the city, but they are not always in the same field someone is looking for.
“There’s a paycheque out there, it just depends on what kind of work you’re willing to do,” he said.
Pearson said the city’s massive growth in the retail industry has brought new jobs. Big-box stores being built in the north end are creating new entry-level positions.
Job developer Sue Gordon has been with Second Chance for 12 years and says this year has offered more job opportunities than last.
On Wednesday, Second Chance hosted a job fair for a new Michael’s arts and crafts store set to open at the end of October in the north end of the city. The store was looking to hire between 50 and 60 part-time staff to fill customer service positions.
Gordon said the event had an excellent turnout with more than 25 people attending and some walking out with new jobs.
One successful applicant was Guelph resident, Rosalind Scantlebury. She said she has been looking for the right job for more than a year and was hired as a sales associate for the new Michael’s store
She said it was difficult to search because most jobs available aren’t advertised.
“You have to keep looking and you have to persevere,” said the recent grad of the office administration program at Conestoga College.
She said the job was a great fit, and because of her past job experience, she may be able to launch into something else later.
The StatsCan numbers touting Guelph’s robust employment story were released on Sept. 9. The cities StatsCan tracks are those communities with a population of at least 100,000.
Nationally, the stats told a different story.
For the second month in a row, the economy created virtually no additional employment, actually losing 5,500 jobs in August.
Derek Burleton of TD Bank said with the global economy slowing, Canada could see its unemployment rate rise to 7.5 per cent or higher by the end of the year.
Nationally, economists had expected a 21,500-job gain in August coming off a mostly flat July, but part of the calculation was based on the belief there would be a spike in education-related employment in preparation for September’s start of classes. That did not materialize and should be seen in next month’s data.
But next month may also bring the first real indicator of how much August’s financial market meltdown and subsequent loss of consumer and investor confidence has spooked employers.