Northeast unemployment falls to 6.0% in three-month October figures

Unemployment in Ontario’s Northeast economic region fell to 6.0% from 6.5% a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada’s three-month averages ending in October 2026. The figures, released Nov. 6 in the Labour Force Survey, are not adjusted for seasonal variations.

Employment rose to 292,100 from 288,600 in the corresponding three-month period of 2025, while the number of unemployed people fell to 18,800 from 20,200.

The Northeast’s labour force — people who were employed or unemployed — increased to 310,900 from 308,800. Its participation rate, which measures the labour force as a share of the population aged 15 and older, edged down to 59.5% from 59.6%.

The region’s employment rate, the proportion of people aged 15 and older who were employed, rose to 55.9% from 55.7%, according to the agency’s regional table.

Using the same three-month, unadjusted figures, Ontario’s unemployment rate fell to 7.2% from 7.9% a year earlier. Canada’s rate declined to 6.6% from 7.0%.

Ontario’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 7.3% in October from 7.0% in September as more people searched for work, Statistics Canada said. Those monthly figures use a different measurement basis from the Northeast’s three-month averages.

Across Canada, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate among people aged 55 and older rose 0.2 percentage points from September to 5.5% in October. Among unemployed people in that age group, 32.7% had been continuously searching for work for at least 27 weeks, compared with 27.9% a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada.