Barrie’s Job Growth Keeping Up With Labour Force

Barrie’s unemployment rate barely moved last month, up a tenth to 7.5 per cent. In an email to us this morning, Mayor Jeff Lehman called January’s jobless numbers “odd,” as there was a huge jump in both the number of people working, and the number of jobs in the city, but points out at least job growth is keeping pace with the number of people looking for a job.  He also said while we’re still above the national jobless rate of 6.8 per cent, he added all the south end industrial growth expected soon should help turn that around. Provincially, the unemployment rate didn’t budge  at 6.4 per cent.