A month after the World Health Organization officially declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic, the jobless rate in Ontario’s London-St. Thomas region has increased by nearly one per cent.

The rate was at 4.9 per cent in February and jumped to 5.8 per cent in March.

Ed Holder, London’s mayor, spoke about the city’s unemployment rate during a virtual media briefing with the Middlesex-London Health Unit on Thursday.

“I don’t think there’s a cause for celebration here; I expect there’s going to be more troubling economic news in April and beyond.”

The March uptick put an end to five consecutive months of declines, but is still well below the 6.5 per cent unemployment rate recorded in September 2019.

Gerry McCartney, the CEO of the London Chamber of Commerce spoke with Mike Stubbs on London Live Thursday.

“Now we’re into April, and it’s getting worse.”

McCartney explained the unemployment rate is hovering around 8-9 per cent currently, but it could go up as high as 12-15 per cent by the end of April.

McCartney says the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and other business organizations have worked with Statistics Canada to produce a survey for businesses “everywhere to participate.”

It asks businesses to explain how COVID-19 has impacted them, and what they anticipate in the upcoming months.

Mayor Ed Holder also pointed out the London Jobs Now work site, where 3,400 jobs are currently posted.

–With files from Global News’ Jacquelyn Lebel 

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