Unemployment in Chatham-Kent dropped for the ninth straight month, according to end-of-October statistics released by Chatham-Kent Economic Development Services.
Although the jobless rate dropped only slightly from 6.2 per cent in September to 6.1 per cent in October, the larger picture shows a 2.9 per cent decline for the first 10 months of 2016.
The 6.1 per cent figure is a full 1.6 per cent lower than October of 2015 and is the lowest October number during the last decade, according to acting director of economic development services Stuart McFadden.
He said 2016 has been a pretty exciting year for the municipality.
“We’ve posted a steady decline due to the companies that believe in our community, the workers who fill the jobs and the municipality doing whatever it can to facilitate a favourable business climate here,” McFadden noted.
Chatham-Kent CAO Don Shropshire said the continuing trend demonstrates that council’s focus on job creation is paying dividends.
“Council has established its goals of jobs, people and health so the fact that this is the lowest October total in the last decade means a lot,” he said. “It goes hand in hand with the decline in our social caseload so the two combined are a good indication we are heading in the right direction.”
