Unemployment in Chatham-Kent nudged up by 0.4% in January to 6.4%, the same level as the provincial average. 
According to Stuart McFadden, Chatham-Kent’s acting director of economic development services.
“We always want to see the percentage dropping but we realize January is a time when the economy is seasonally shifting,” he said. “What’s important from our point of view is that in January of this year we had 49,400 people working compared to 47,500 in January of 2016. Our rate went from 9% then to 6.4% this year, so there is still positive job activity happening throughout Chatham-Kent.”
The overall figure southwestern Ontario is up 0.2%.