For two years, Ontario has recorded the strongest job creation in its history
In 2022, Ontario experienced job growth of 4.6%, third among the largest increases among Canadian provinces. (File photo)
In 2022, 338,300 jobs were created in Ontario. Thanks to this increase, the province's annual unemployment rate reached 5.6%, the same rate as before the pandemic.
Adding the 367,000 jobs created in 2021, Ontario recorded its strongest two-year job creation in its history, notes the Office of Financial Accountability (FAO) in a report released Tuesday.
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Ontario's employment gains are widespread across all major demographic groups and the largest share of these gains are in permanent, full-time positions in the private sector, the province's financial health guardian said in a statement.
Of the top 16 industries identified by the FAO, 15 experienced employment growth in 2022.
For the second year in a row, professional, scientific and techniques had the biggest gains.
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All major cities in the province have seen job growth. Nevertheless, Greater Sudbury, Thunder Bay and Brantford are seeing employment levels below their pre-pandemic thresholds.
[The industries] that are predominant in these regions have had difficulty recruiting staff, especially in the health services field, said Peter Weltman, director of financial responsibility for Ontario.+
According to the FAO, the difficulty of filling vacancies is one of the main difficulties facing the Ontario labor market
More than a third of vacancies in the province have been vacant for more than 90 days, a record proportion.
At 5.6%, Ontario ranks fifth among the provinces with the lowest unemployment rates in the country, behind Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
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All major cities in Ontario saw their unemployment rates fall in 2022.
Belleville has seen the largest decrease, as its rate fell from 8.4% in 2021 to 3.7% in 2022, again according to BRF figures.
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At 7.7%, Windsor has the highest unemployment rate in the province. (File image)
The average hourly wage in Ontario reached $32.94 in 2022, a 4.2% increase from the previous year.
Inflation stood at 6.8%.
This is the second year in a row where Ontarians are seeing their purchasing power decline.
Only 2 of 16 industrial job groups and 5 of 34 professional job groups saw wage increases above the rate of inflation in 2022.
