Anyone who questions whether the current recession is hitting Ontario harder than the rest of the country need look no farther than the June unemployment statistics published by Statistics Canada.

According to the report, Ontario had the dubious distinction of being home to the five cities with the highest unemployment rates in the country.

Topping the list is Windsor, with an unemployment rate of 14.4%. Employment in manufacturing there is down by 23% year over year. No city in Canada has been harder hit by the implosion of the North American auto industry.

The “honour” of having the second highest unemployment rate in Canada goes to St. Catharines-Niagara. Over the past year, it has lost 17,800 jobs, 4,100 of which were in accommodation and tourism. This has been caused in large part by a protracted decline in overnight travel from the U.S.

Over the past year, St. Catharines has also lost jobs in wholesale and retail trade (-3,800), manufacturing (-2,800) and construction (-2,700).

In London, Ont., employment since December of 2007 has trended steadily lower, pushing its unemployment rate from 6.2% to a record high of 10.4%, the third highest rate in the province. Over the past year, there have been significant job losses in education services (-5,500), managerial services (-2,200) and construction (-1,100).

Despite Kitchener’s diversified industrial base and the fact that it is home to two large universities, the city’s economic health has deteriorated sharply since the beginning of the year due to weakness in retail and wholesale sales and public administration.

Looking forward, although the employment outlook for the CMA is significantly weaker than last year, it is (according to Manpower Canada) starting to show signs of improvement, fuelled in part by an increase in hiring at Research In Motion.

Surprisingly, the fifth highest unemployment rate in the country was recorded by Toronto, which prides itself on its economic health.

Over the past year, sharp declines in manufacturing, construction and management services have caused the city’s unemployment rate to hit a 15-year high.

The improving outlook in the U.S., plus a strengthening domestic demand in Canada, will probably reduce the number of Ontario cities in the “top” five in terms of unemployment rates, but don’t expect this to happen overnight.