Barrie Jobless Rate Unchanged In January

Barrie’s unemployment rate remained unchanged from December to january at 6.4 per cent. Mayor Jeff Lehman says both the labour force and employment grew substantially – 2,400 more people reported having jobs in‎ January compared to December, but the labour force also grew by about the same amount. He says the good news to come out of that is while the area continues to grow, people seem to be finding jobs. What will be interesting, the mayor notes, is to see if the low dollar translates into a competitive advantage for Ontario – the dollar is generally good for manufacturing, by making our prices more competitive. Nationally, the jobless rate rose 0.1 per cent to 7.2 per cent.