Meanwhile, losses in the services sector were led by information, culture and recreation (-22,300), followed by accommodation and food services (-11,000), trade
(-10,500), business, building and other support services (-4,600) and educational services (-3,800). Gains were reported in professional, scientific and technical services (+ 14,300), public administration (+ 5,700), finance, insurance, real estate and leasing (+ 5,100), and health care and social assistance (+ 4,400).

Over the past 12 months, employment in Ontario has grown by 1.5 %.

This month’s index ranks 35th out of 120, meaning there were 85 months with weaker indices over the past 120 months. From January 1998 to January 2008, employment has grown by 23 %.

Toronto region: 51.5 % — Fair
2,300 jobs were created in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) in January 2008. However, historical employment figures from Statistics Canada show weaker job creation for February. As such, these new jobs were not enough to stabilize the CMA’s index, bringing this month’s index down by 0.3 points. After posting five months of “unfavourable” employment status, Toronto’s job prospects remain “fair” for a second consecutive month.