City's unemployment rate 5.9 per cent in March

The city's unemployment rate stood at 5.9 per cent in March, according to Statistics Canada labour market survey numbers issued Friday.

That's down from 6.5 per cent for the same month last year. However, at an estimated 47,900, the number of people holding down jobs in the city is down by 2,400.

And while, at 3,000, there are 500 fewer people seeking work, those of working age not participating stood at 21,900, compared to 18,800 a year ago.

As a result, last month's employment rate was 65.8 per cent, down from 69.4 per cent in March 2018. Likewise, the participation rate was 69.8 per cent, down from 74.2 per cent.

March's numbers indicate an improvement over February, when the unemployment rate was 6.4 per cent, 46,900 were working, 3,200 were seeking jobs and 22,700 were not participating, translating into an employment rate of 64.4 per cent and a participation rate of 68.8 per cent.

However, Statistics Canada strongly advises against making month-to-month comparisons because the data is unadjusted for seasonal factors.

The accuracy of last month's unemployment rate is plus or minus one percentage point, 34 times out of 50. For the March 2018, the accuracy is also plus or minus one percentage point while that for February is plus or minus 1.1 percentage point, both also 34 times out of 50.

The numbers do not separate part-time from full-time employment and are based on a three month rolling average.