Increases to both employment and unemployment locally in June

Employment and unemployment were both up in the North Bay area last month.

Stats Canada reports the employment rate was 57.1 in June.

That’s up from 55.8 per cent in the same month last year.

The labour force also included 1,300 more people last month, compared to June 2017.

Unemployment was up 0.4 per cent to 6.8 per cent.

However, it is not deemed statistically significant because it’s within the standard error of 1.7 per cent.

The figures include the City of North Bay, Callander, East Ferris and Bonfield.

Nationally unemployment rose to 6 per cent.

The unemployment rate moved up last month despite the addition of 31,800 new jobs because nearly 76,000 more people entered the workforce.

(With files from The Canadian Press)