A big jump in employment in the area last month.

Employment was at 58 per cent in October, according to Stats Canada.

That’s up 6.5 per cent from the same month last year.

The Labour Force also included 1,800 more people this October.

The figures include the City of North Bay, Callander, East Ferris and Bonfield.

In terms of October unemployment, the estimates cannot be published because they are below the confidentiality threshold.

Nationally, Statistics Canada says the economy gained 44,000 net new jobs in October, but the increase was entirely due to part-time employment.

The overall increase was driven by a gain of 67,000 part-time jobs for the month, while the number of full-time jobs fell by 23,000.

The unemployment rate held steady at 7.0 per cent as more people entered the labour market.

(With files from The Canadian Press)