Unemployment rate jumps in Eastern Ontario

BROCKVILLE – The unemployment rate for Eastern Ontario jumped four-tenths of a per cent in January.

The rate for an area from Brockville to Ottawa and east to Quebec was at 5.9 per cent, compared to 5.5 per cent in December.

Ontario’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.7 per cent as the economy added 19,800 jobs.

In Canada, the drop in oil prices affected the job market in Alberta, which posted its worst unemployment rate in a decade, as well as oil-producing Newfoundland.

Those losses offset the gains in Ontario.

The national unemployment rate edged up slightly (0.1 per cent) to 7.2 per cent.

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