Canada lost 7,200 jobs in March, ending 6-month string of gains
Canada’s job market shrank by 7,200 positions in March, but the jobless rate held steady at 5.8 per cent.
Statistics Canada reported Friday that most provinces lost jobs, especially Quebec (down by 12,900 jobs) and Ontario (down 8,800 jobs). British Columbia added 7,900 jobs, Saskatchewan added 3,900 jobs, New Brunswick added 3,100 jobs and Prince Edward Island added 2,000.
Everywhere else, the job market was flat.
The monthly decline comes on the heels of the best two-month start to the year for Canada’s job market in almost 40 years, with 66,800 new jobs in January and 55,900 in February.
Economists had been expecting a slowdown from those highs, but thought the economy would still eke out a gain of about 2,300 jobs for the month, on average, according to Bloomberg. So the March loss came as a surprise.
Monthly job changes by industry
While the overall economy lost jobs, many sectors saw gains.
“It was a mixed bag,” TD Bank economist Brian DePratto said. Goods-producing industries added about 1,600 jobs overall, but that was more than offset by widespread declines in the service sector, including 20,000 lost in health care and 14,000 in business support.
De Pratto said while the headline number was certainly negative, overall, the report wasn’t all that bad.
“The end of a six-month streak of job gains is sure to catch headlines, but given the strength we’ve seen over the past half-year, a flat report isn’t really surprising and indeed makes some sense given the relatively modest performance of other economic indicators in recent months,” he said.
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