ONTARIO's RECORD BREAKING JOB LOSSES

   It's no secret that 2020 was a particularly difficult year for residents of Ontario and people all over the world thanks to the pandemic and subsequent government-imposed lockdowns, and a new report indicates that Ontario actually saw the largest annual decline in employment on record last year.

   The report, released by the province's Financial Accountability Office (FAO) this week, suggests that Ontario lost 355,300 jobs in 2020, causing the province's annual unemployment rate to jump to 9.6 per cent — the highest it's been since 1993.
   "The rise in the unemployment rate in 2020 was tempered by a surge in individuals who left the labour force and as a result were not counted as unemployed," notes the report.
   "Due to these exits, the province's labour force participation rate dropped to 63.6 per cent, down sharply from 64.9 per cent in 2019 and the lowest rate on record."