TORONTO - Ontario led Canada in job creation in January, adding a net total of 19,800 jobs, most of them full-time positions, but there are still stubborn pockets in the province where work remains scarce.
Despite the gains, Ontario's unemployment rate last month held steady at 6.7 per cent, below the Canadian average of 7.2 per cent.
But the jobless rate in Windsor remains the highest in Canada at 9.3 per cent, which was actually down from 9.7 per cent in December, while the rate in St. Catharines-Niagara and Sudbury increased to 8.6 per cent.
Finance Minister Charles Sousa says Ontario's economy is leading the country, but he admits "some regions are still hurting" and sectors like manufacturing are still going through what he calls transition changes.
The New Democrats said they were "cautiously optimistic" about the overall job numbers, but noted unemployment increased in eight Ontario cities and youth unemployment remains higher than the rest of the country.
The Progressive Conservatives said people in many regions of Ontario are "precariously employed or under-employed" and have no confidence about better job prospects.
