The unemployment rate across Prescott and Russell, and Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (SDG) counties was one per cent below the Ontario rate for December, 2023.
According to the Eastern Ontario Training Board (EOTB), which shares monthly labour market information based on data gathered by Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate for Eastern Ontario in December 2023 was 5.3 per cent. The Ontario unemployment rate for that month was 6.3 per cent. The unemployment rate for the City of Ottawa during December 2023 was five per cent.
There were 737 online advertisements for available jobs across the five-county region in December, 2023. The top five sectors where employees were most needed across the region that month were led by elementary and secondary schools, followed by home health care services. The sector with the third-greatest need for employees was limited service eating establishments (i.e. fast-food restaurants). The general warehouse and storage sector had the fourth-greatest need for employees and the sector with the fifth-greatest need for employees was hospitals.
During December 2023, Upper Canada District School Board was the employer in Prescott and Russell/SDG issuing the greatest number of job postings. The English public-school board had 31 jobs available that month. Walmart Canada was second with 15 postings. In third was Shoppers Drug Mart with 11 postings.
