17 mars 2022
Unemployment rate in the region
Soon a return to pre-pandemic averages?
By: Alexandre Brouillard
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Since August 2021, the unemployment rate has been relatively stable in the region. In Montérégie, it went from 5.2% in August 2021 to 4.2% in January 2022, according to the Institut de la statistique du Québec.
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During the same period in Quebec, the unemployment rate has always been a little higher, going from 6% in August 2021 to 4.9% in January 2022.
For the coordinator of the Regroupement des chômeurs et chômeuses de la region de Sorel-Tracy, Alexandre Voghel, this situation is relatively positive, knowing that at this time last year, the unemployment rate in Quebec reached 8.8%.
“According to the latest data from Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate in the region is currently 4.7%. We are not yet in full employment, but an unemployment rate below 5% is still interesting,” he says.
In 2020, during the first year of the pandemic, the unemployment rate in Quebec had reached 8.9%, then fell to 6.1% in 2021. In Montérégie, this statistic fell by about three percentage points, from 8.4% in 2020 to 5.5% in 2021.
For the coming year, Alexandre Voghel believes that the unemployment rate should decrease if the health crisis does not recur. “I expect things to go well all year,” he says. Currently, it seems to be going much better and we are returning to pre-pandemic rates. »
A lot of waiting at Service Canada
For Alexandre Voghel, the current problem concerning employment and unemployment is the delay in processing files by Service Canada.
“Currently, Service Canada is significantly behind in applications. It does not meet its 28-day deadline for responding to requests. People are waiting longer than normal for their employment insurance. Sometimes, the applications are processed, but the payments are not made,” explains the coordinator of the Regroupement des chômeurs et chômeuses de la region de Sorel-Tracy.
Mr. Voghel said he recently received a press release from Service Canada explaining that it was going to hire new officials to process the files. “So we can easily deduce that there is a lack of personnel. The Service Canada office in Sorel-Tracy would even have been closed for lack of personnel, ”he says.
Joined by the newspaper The 2 ShoresMarie Terrien, media relations for Service Canada, indicated that the Service Canada center in Sorel-Tracy was closed three times in 2022, on February 3 and 4, 2022 and on March 1.
« Service Canada Centers may temporarily close for various reasons; power outages, technical problems or absences of employees. Employees can also be absent for various reasons “, she says, while encouraging people to use online services.
Faced with this situation, Mr. Voghel claims that service centers remain essential. “A lot of people don’t have access to the web. Offices are therefore essential,” he concludes.
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