Premier Dalton McGuinty commented on the latest Statistics Canada unemployment figures on Friday, saying Ontario created a lot of private sector jobs but lost some public sector ones.

Speaking from a Toyota plant in Woodstock, McGuinty said it was interesting how the numbers translate when the unemployment percentages drop from 7.7 to 7.5 per cent.

He added that Ontario created more jobs in June than any other province in Canada and the United States combined.

"(Ontario) is on the right track," he told The Canada Press on Friday.

Ontario had a net gain of 40,300 jobs in June following a slight decline in May.

Earlier in the day, StatsCan reported that Ontario lost more than 22,000 jobs in July but saw its unemployment rate dip to 7.5 per cent.

The province's unemployment rate dropped 0.2 per cent from 7.7 per cent in June because the labour force shrank by more than 36,000 in July as fewer people reported themselves as either working or actively looking for work.

Vincent Ferrao, a Statistics Canada economist, told CTV News that retirement is one way a person could be working in June but not working in July. The July figure is seasonally adjusted, he said.

The national unemployment rate in July was 7.2 per cent.

While Ontario added 16,500 full-time jobs, it lost 39,000 part-time jobs. The province has about 7.3 million people in its labour force.

Statistics Canada said that despite the decline in part-time jobs, "employment growth over the past 12 months stands at 1.6 per cent, similar to the national growth rate," it said.

In a report, TD Economics said July's decline was the largest month-to-month decrease for Ontario since December 2009.

"However, most of these losses stemmed from the educational sector, with schools closing for summer break in June," it said.

The goods-producing and manufacturing sectors accounted for 32,300 new jobs in July.

"These latter segments of the provincial economy will be the ones to watch over the near-term given the high Canadian dollar and lingering economic uncertainties south of the border," TD said.

General Motors and Toyota announced this week new investments in their auto assembly plants in Oshawa and Woodstock, respectively. The automakers say the investments should boost employment at those locations.

Unemployment rates for some Ontario cities (June rate in brackets):

  • Toronto - 8.3 per cent (8.4 per cent)
  • Barrie - 8.8 (8.8)
  • Brantford - 8.6 (8.2)
  • Guelph - 5.9 (6.3)
  • Hamilton - 6.4 (5.9)
  • Kingston - 6.9 (6.8)
  • Kitchener - 6.4 (6.9)
  • London - 9.1 (8.7)
  • Oshawa - 8.4 (9.7)
  • Ottawa - 5.3 (5.6)
  • Peterborough - 11.0 (10.0)
  • St. Catharines-Niagara - 8.6 (8.8)
  • Windsor - 8.0 (9.2)

With files from The Canadian Press.