In a month when national unemployment fell, Ontario was behind the curve, partly because of the 19,100 manufacturing jobs the province lost.

Overall, employment decreased by 31,500 — 0.4 per cent — in Ontario in September, according to Statistics Canada's labour force survey for last month. Employment was up nationally by 21,000, shrinking the country's unemployment rate by 0.2 per cent. The unemployment rate was 5.2 per cent in Canada and 5.8 per cent in Ontario.

B.C. experienced the largest employment increase since August (1.2 per cent), followed by Manitoba (1 per cent), Nova Scotia (0.9 per cent), New Brunswick (0.8 per cent), Alberta (0.5 per cent) and Newfoundland and Labrador (0.2 per cent).

Along with Ontario, employment also fell in Prince Edward Island (by 4.4 per cent) and Saskatchewan (by 1.2 per cent).

There was no noticeable change in Quebec's employment level.

Outside of Ontario's manufacturing sector, there was also a notable amount of job losses in professional, scientific and technical services (18,500) and wholesale and retail trade (11,600).

There were a significant number of business, building and other support services positions filled (11,700), as well as in education (16,700) in the province.

Overall, the reduction in jobs in Ontario was due to losses by people who are employed part-time; these were down 35,000 (2.6 per cent) last month, whereas full-time employment increased by 3,500 (0.1 per cent).

In line with the national trend, Ontario's total labour force also shrunk last month (by 0.4 per cent). Over the last 20 years, the percentage of Canadians considered to be a part of the labour force has "fallen slowly but steadily from 67.1 per cent in September 2002 to 64.7 per cent" last month, StatCan's report says.

"This decline has been due in large part to population aging, as ongoing retirements among the baby boom cohort puts downward pressure on labour supply," it says.

Ontario's labour force participation rate — 64.6 per cent— was virtually equal to the national level, meaning the province's total labour force is made up of 8.1 million people. Its population is 12.55 million.

Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said during a panel discussion in August that the projection that Canada's population will continue aging is one of his biggest concerns. If projections hold true and the population grows older — further diminishing the percentage of people in the labour force — the health-care system could face greater strain, labour shortages could worsen, and economic growth could be stunted.

READ MORE: What’s eating Peter Bethlenfalvy?

Of the 11 regions in Ontario that StatCan presents data for, unemployment was highest (7.2 per cent) in Windsor-Sarnia, and lowest in Stratford-Bruce Peninsula (2.7 per cent) at the end of September.

Of career-age men and women (25 and older), men in Ontario have a lower unemployment rate (4.5 per cent) than women (5.1 per cent).

StatCan's report also said hourly wages in Canada increased 5.2 per cent since September 2021, which is still almost 2 per cent below the year-over-year inflation rate. Also at a national level, the proportion of workers doing their job from home decreased by 0.5 per cent to 16.3 per cent from August to September, while the share of workers who work both from home and elsewhere stayed the same at 8.6 per cent.

Manufacturing losses cost Ontario jobs in September as national unemployment decreases

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