Area unemployment was up in December

An increase in unemployment for the area last month.  

Stats Canada says the jobless figure for the area in December was 7.4 percent.

That’s two percent higher than December 2014.

It’s deemed statistically significant because the standard error is 1.9.

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

Nationally unemployment held steady at 7.1 percent.

Meantime, the employment figure locally was at 50.3 percent last month.

That’s down from 61 percent in the same month in 2014.