Brown's Job Numbers Don't Add Up

A recent tweet from Barrie MP Patrick Brown:

Of course, 111,200 is 2,700 more than 108,500, not 3,500, but that's not the only thing wrong with Brown's tweet.

According to Statistics Canada, the pre-recession high of 108,500 for employment in the Barrie census metropolitan area occurred in March of 2007, not December.

The unemployment rate in Barrie for January 2013 is 7.3%, a full 3 percentage points higher than it was in March 2007.

Source: Statistics Canada, CANSIM table 282-0116

Although the number of people employed in Barrie increased by 2,700 between March 2007 and January 2013, the number of people unemployed rose 3,800 during the same period.

While the additional 2,700 people employed represents an increase of 2.5% in the number of people employed, the additional 3,800 people unemployed represents an increase of 77.5% in the number of people unemployed.

Not very #encouraging Mr. Brown!