Toronto's protracted unemployment problem is becoming scary

Few things demonstrate just how badly the Canadian economy is performing lately than our nation's ballooning unemployment rate, which has just passed a disheartening new milestone.

Statistics Canada's monthly Labour Force Survey, the most recent edition of which just dropped on Friday, has shown a steady decline in the number of citizens working from coast to coast. This growing issue has been especially pronounced in Ontario, which saw 26,000 more people lose their employment last month — the most job losses of any province.

Windsor has held onto the title of being home to the highest level of joblessness of any major city in the country, with 11.1 per cent of its workforce without a gig as of August, up from 10.2 per cent in July and 9.1 per cent in January.

Also high on the list are the ON hubs of Oshawa — which now has a 9 per cent unemployment rate, an uptick from 8.2 per cent in January — and, unfortunately, Toronto, in which 8.9 per cent of the eligible population is out of work right now. (On the plus side, this is slightly better than the nine per cent rate we saw in July, albeit worse than the 8.8 per cent rate we had in January.)

A StatCan chart showing how unemployment rates are highest in southern Ontario census metropolitan areas.

Canada's overall ratio of unemployed persons to employed persons worsened by 0.2 per cent from July to August, with 7.1 per cent of the population now idle.

The hardest-hit industries, per the report, are professional, scientific and technical services, transportation and warehousing, and manufacturing, while more people were hired in construction.

"Since the beginning of the year, regions of Southern Ontario have faced an uncertain economic climate, brought on by the threat or imposition of tariffs, including on motor vehicle and parts exports," StatCan explains of Canada's most populous province.

It also notes that Ontario has the second-highest level of workers who are "underemployed," or looking to work more hours, after only Newfoundland & Labrador, and that the nation's overall employment rate has been on a concerning downward trend since the beginning of the year.