Canada Loses 1 Million Jobs in March
One million people in Canada lost their jobs last month. The figure was unarguably the worst since the Global Financial Crisis when they shed 129,000 jobs in January 2009.
When combined with Canadians experiencing reduced hours, its total would lift the number up to 3.1 million.
Moreover, it was much lower than the 500,000 drop investors expected prior to the announcement.
The shocking news brought overall unemployment rates up to 7.8 percent from 5.6 percent recorded the previous month. Youth workers ages 15 to 24 were affected the most, bringing an all-time record-breaking unemployment rate of 49.1 percent.
Positions requiring public contact were affected the most, especially accommodation and food services. In particular, the sector felt a 23.9 decline for March.
Employed insurance and emergency benefit claims have continued to climb both year-over-year and month-over-month. However, job postings plunged compared to last year.
Researchers believe this rate will eventually bottom out, but another employment lift will only happen once Canada sees health improvements. The coronavirus killed 509 people in the country with more than 20,000 total cases.
World economy experts think this drop will see another 1.0 million loss in April, bringing unemployment rates down to 15%. Fortunately, economic news reported a rehiring from Air Canada after the April slump for 160,000 workers.
How the Statistic Came to Life
Obviously, much of the uncertainty around the prediction revolves around its dependability on progress against COVID-19. However, this fact shouldn’t invalidate any claims about the Canadian economy in the present.
Recent numbers of unemployment were courtesy of the organization’s survey of around 55,000 Canadian households. This happened from Sunday, March 15 to Saturday, March 51. Therefore, the results are only a fraction of the true number against an entire month of data.
The country shut down many schools and non-essential work in most provinces, capturing the initial impact of the pandemic. Half a million Canadians applied for Employment Insurance on March 20, pushing towards two million by the end of March.
The agency qualifies unemployment in three questions. Are they looking for a job, waiting to start a job, or on a temporary layoff?
Economists call the current business halt as the “corona-coma,” which included the loss of employment gains since November 2016.
American data also experienced one of its largest unemployment plummets since 1975.
