Here's what the job numbers say for Greater Sudbury

According to Statistics Canada data, the unemployment rate in Greater Sudbury remained steady at 5.5 per cent in December 2024.

This rate remains below the long-term average and is 5.2 percentage points lower than its peak in December 2009.

However, the region saw a net loss of 400 jobs in December, driven by a reduction of 800 full-time positions. This decline was partially offset by a gain of 400 part-time jobs. The figures are based on three-month moving averages to account for seasonal changes.

Robin Wiebe, lead economist at the Conference Board of Canada, urged caution when interpreting Sudbury's monthly employment data, noting the potential for volatility in smaller labour markets.

"I would not pay a lot of attention to just the one month's worth of data,  especially in a city like Sudbury, where the survey size is small," Wiebe explained. "The monthly fluctuations of the survey are volatile."

Wiebe also noted that Sudbury's employment was on track to decline in 2024 but remained higher than during the pandemic's trough. 

"Even though Sudbury employment was on track to fall for the entire year, it's still coming back, it's still higher than it was at the trough of the pandemic," he said.

Wiebe said the city had around 81,000 people employed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that had risen to around 85,000 by 2024.

But despite this recovery, employment in the region has yet to keep pace with a growing population fuelled by high immigration targets," he said.

"Population has been rising fairly strongly," Wiebe noted, explaining it's a good sign "for employment to keep up with that and the unemployment rate not to surge."

While Sudbury experienced job losses, Ontario's economy continued to expand. The province added 23,000 jobs in December 2024, bringing the total number of new jobs created in 2024 to more than 200,000. Key sectors driving growth included automotive, life sciences, technology, and advanced manufacturing.

Vic Fedeli, Ontario's minister of economic development, job creation, and trade, highlighted the province's performance in a statement.

"Despite an uncertain global economy in 2024, Ontario remained the economic engine of Canada," wrote Fedeli. "Our government is going to continue to create the environment to attract more investments, better jobs and bigger paycheques."