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Despite a rise in unemployment rates across the country and in Ontario for October, Brantford and area saw growth in employment with about 900 new jobs.

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According to seasonally adjusted estimates released Friday by Statistics Canada, the local jobless rate fell to 4.1 per cent, down from 4.7 per cent in September.

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Provincially the rate climbed to 6.2 per cent while federally a growth of 18,000 jobs still resulted in the national unemployment rate increasing to 5.7 per cent.

Brantford-Brant has the lowest unemployment rate compared to neighbouring municipalities, with Hamilton’s 5.2 per cent being the next lowest rate.

Increases in employment were seen mainly in service industries including warehousing, education, and transportation.

“There’s a lot of similarity right now between the labour markets in Brantford and Hamilton,” said Danette Dalton, executive director of the Workforce Planning Board of Grand Erie. “There are thousands of people who commute daily between the communities in each direction.”

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The WPBGE online job board, Grand Erie Jobs, saw roughly 1,900 job postings in October, down 19 per cent from September. Three per cent fewer companies posted positions available.

“There has been a decline in the number of online job postings over the last several months, but that isn’t unusual,” Dalton said. “There’s a seasonal nature to the labour market and hiring can slow in the fall months, and then pick up in January. The same was true last year.”

Funded in part by the federal and provincial governments, the Workforce Planning Board is one of 26 non-profit organizations in Ontario that play a leadership role in labour force planning.

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