Canada lost almost two million jobs in April; jobless rate soars to 13%
@JLova
@jdubnyce
Canada lost almost two million jobs in April; jobless rate soars to 13%
The loss of 1,993,800 comes on top of more than one million jobs lost in March
Canada’s unemployment rate soared to 13 per cent in April, with the country shedding roughly two million jobs last month as a result of the coronavirus-induced economic shutdown, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.
Roughly three million jobs have been lost over the past two months, the steepest consecutive monthly declines in employment ever recorded.
The numbers were not as bad as economists had feared, however. Expectations were for a loss of 4 million jobs and an unemployment rate of 18 per cent, said Reuters.
StatsCan data also showed that 2.5 million people had lost half of their usual working hours for reasons related to COVID-19.
“As of the week of April 12, the number of Canadians who were either not employed or working substantially reduced hours was 5.5 million, or more than one-quarter of February’s employment level,” the jobs report said.
Overall, in April, more than one-third, or 36.7 per cent of the potential labour force were either out of jobs or worked less than half of their usual hours.
Approximately 7.6 million Canadians have applied for CERB to date.
@JLova
@jdubnyce
Canada lost almost two million jobs in April; jobless rate soars to 13%
The loss of 1,993,800 comes on top of more than one million jobs lost in March
Canada’s unemployment rate soared to 13 per cent in April, with the country shedding roughly two million jobs last month as a result of the coronavirus-induced economic shutdown, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.
Roughly three million jobs have been lost over the past two months, the steepest consecutive monthly declines in employment ever recorded.
The numbers were not as bad as economists had feared, however. Expectations were for a loss of 4 million jobs and an unemployment rate of 18 per cent, said Reuters.
StatsCan data also showed that 2.5 million people had lost half of their usual working hours for reasons related to COVID-19.
“As of the week of April 12, the number of Canadians who were either not employed or working substantially reduced hours was 5.5 million, or more than one-quarter of February’s employment level,” the jobs report said.
Overall, in April, more than one-third, or 36.7 per cent of the potential labour force were either out of jobs or worked less than half of their usual hours.
Approximately 7.6 million Canadians have applied for CERB to date.
