Hamilton: Better or Worse? Welfare numbers since 2005

Better or Worse #2: This is the secondinstalment in a month-long municipal election series of infographics examining Hamilton's progress over recent years.

Mondays first instalment of Hamilton: Better or Worsetook at look at unemployment. It showed that the citys jobless rate has basically returned to its pre-Great Recession baseline.But other measures show that the citys economy hasnt fully recovered from the 2008 economic meltdown.

• Hamilton: Better or Worse? Unemployment since the recession

Take, for instance, Hamiltons welfare roles, which rose dramatically afterOctober 2008's globalstock market crash. In 2007, the city handled 9,753 Ontario Works cases during the average month (each caserepresents either a single person or family). By the end of 2009, that number recipients had jumped to 12,224, representing an increase of 25 per cent.

However, unlike Hamiltons jobless rate, the number of people on welfare continued to increase even after the recession had officially ended.

OW cases in Hamilton peaked in 2011. But the decline thats followed has been consistent but slow. Last year, the city had 12,619 welfare cases on its books during the average month nearly 3,000 more cases than the monthly average for 2007.

• Related: City sees biggest drop in welfare cases since 2008 recession

Other recent data suggest that welfare recipients are staying in the system longer,furthercomplicatingthe popularnarrative about Hamilton's current so-called economic boom.