Cuts and fewer job seekers driving Windsor unemployment decline, say experts

Cuts and fewer job seekers driving Windsor unemployment decline, say experts

Windsor's jobless rate may have dropped by more than a full percentage point in a month, but a local labour market expert says the decline came for the wrong reasons.

"We have a shrinking labour force and a lower participation rate that can slow economic growth for us and strain employers who are looking for workers," said Justin Falconer, CEO of Workforce WindsorEssex.

Data from Statistics Canada released last week shows Windsor's unemployment rate fell to 10.2 per cent in July from 11.2 per cent in June, when the city had the highest jobless rate in Canada. Kelowna, B.C. now holds that title.

Falconer says the region's labour force participation rate fell to 62.5 per cent, the lowest in 17 months. That means 3,000 fewer peopl

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