Labour market report, January 2020

Quick facts

In January 2020:

• There were 12.3 million people in Ontario aged 15 years or older
  • 8.0 million (65%) were either working or actively looking for work
  • 7.6 million (62%) were employed and 82% of them had a full-time job
• Ontario's unemployment rate was 5.2% (415,300 unemployed people)

Employment increased in January

Employment in Ontario increased by 15,900 in January after increasing by 17,100 jobs in December.

Chart 1 shows employment in Ontario from January 2015 to January 2020.

Full-time vs. part-time

Full-time employment increased by 10,000 and part-time employment increased by 6,000.

Employment increase/decrease by age

Youth employment (those aged 15 to 24) increased by 17,200 in January, after increasing by 7,700 jobs in December.

Employment for people aged 25 to 54 declined by 13,800 in January, compared to December. Employment for those aged 55 and older increased by 12,600 jobs.

Employment in Canada increased by 34,500 in January, following an increase of 27,300 jobs in December.

Employment in 2019

In 2019, Ontario employment rose by 210,200, compared with 114,400 net new jobs in 2018. This was the largest annual increase on record.

Full-time employment increased by 156,800 in 2019 compared to 2018 and part-time employment increased by 53,400.

Nationally, employment increased by 398,200 net new jobs in 2019.

Unemployment rate decreased to 5.2%

Chart 2 shows unemployment rates, Ontario and Canada, January 2015 to January 2020.

Ontario’s unemployment rate decreased to 5.2% in January from 5.3% in December. The unemployment rate in Ontario has been below 6% since August 2017.

Canada’s unemployment rate decreased to 5.5% in January from 5.6% in December.

Unemployment rate by age

For people aged 15 to 24, the unemployment rate was 10.2% in January, down from 11.6% in December. This was the lowest youth unemployment rate in close to 30 years, having last reached 10.2% in July 1990.

The unemployment rate for people aged 25 to 54 increased to 4.7% in January from 4.5% in December and decreased to 3.6% from 3.7% for those aged 55 and older.

Unemployment rate in 2019

Ontario’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.6% in 2019. Nationally, Canada’s unemployment rate decreased to 5.7% in 2019 from 5.8% in 2018.

Lowest and highest unemployment rates

Chart 3 shows Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) with highest and lowest unemployment rates in Canada, January 2020.

Windsor recorded the highest unemployment rate in Canada in January (8.3%), while Peterborough recorded the third highest rate (7.6%).

Ottawa-Gatineau recorded the lowest unemployment rate in Ontario in January (4.2%), while Victoria recorded the lowest unemployment rate in Canada (3.5%)

Year-over-year comparisons

In January 2020, employment in Ontario increased by 160,500 net jobs for adults 25 years and older compared to January 2019.

Employment increase and decrease by education level

Chart 4 shows Ontario employment change by highest level of education attained, aged 25 and older, January 2019 to January 2020.

Adults with a university degree led gains with 218,900 net new jobs.

Individuals with less than high school and some postsecondary education recorded job gains of 23,700 and 21,900, respectively.

People with high school education recorded job losses of 92,200, as did those with a postsecondary certificate or diploma (11,800).

Unemployment rate by education level

The unemployment rate for adults aged 25 and older with postsecondary education credentials was 4.0% in January 2020, down from 4.3% a year earlier.

The unemployment rate for adults without postsecondary education credentials was 6.0%, down from 6.3% compared to January 2019.

Employment increase and decrease by occupation

Chart 5 shows Ontario employment change by occupation, January 2019 to January 2020.

Seven of the ten major occupational groups in Ontario had net employment gains in January 2020 compared to January 2019.

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

These occupations gained the most jobs:

• sales and service (60,100)
• education, law and social, community and government services (56,300)
• natural and applied sciences and related (51,800)

These occupations lost jobs:

• manufacturing and utilities (29,400)
• art, culture, recreation and sport (21,900)
• natural resources, agriculture and related production occupations (4,000)

Long-term unemployment share decreased

Chart 6 shows Ontario's long-term unemployed (27 weeks or more) as a percentage of total unemployment, January 2011 January 2020.

In January 2020, an estimated 62,000 people were unemployed for 27 weeks or longer, or long-term unemployed. This was down from 70,200 a year earlier.

Long-term unemployed individuals accounted for 15.1% of the total number of unemployed people in January 2020. This compared with 15.5% a year earlier.

Average time in long-term unemployment

The average time in unemployment increased to 16.9 weeks in January 2020 from 15.1 weeks in January 2019.

Download data

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey

January 2020 Labour Market Report:

• CSV, Chart 1, employment in Ontario from January 2015 to January 2020, 1 Kb
• CSV, Chart 2, unemployment rates, Ontario and Canada, January 2015 to January 2020, 2 Kb
• CSV, Chart 3, Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) highest and lowest unemployment rates, 2 Kb
• CSV, Chart 4, Ontario employment change by highest level of education, aged 25 and older, 99 Kb
• CSV, Chart 5, Ontario employment change by occupation 12 Kb
• CSV, Chart 6, Ontario's long-term unemployed, 15 Kb

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