Canada’s economy lost more than one million jobs in March due to the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada’s national statistics agency reported Thursday.
In addition, the monthly Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey showed there were 1.3 million more Canadians than in February who, while officially still employed in March, did not work any hours. Meanwhile, the number of people who worked less than half of their usual hours increased by 800,000.
Statistics Canada estimated 3.1 million Canadians were affected by either job loss or reduced hours in March due to the pandemic.
The unemployment rate increased by 2.2 percentage points to 7.8 per cent, the largest one-month increase since comparable data became available in 1976.
The employment decline in March was larger than in any of three significant recessions experienced since 1980, the agency said.
- Source: Statistics Canada
With large swaths of the Canadian economy still shut down by the measures to stop the spread of the pandemic, many of those who lost their jobs apparently simply chose to wait to look for new employment until conditions improved.
That drove the labour market participation rate down by 3.3 percentage points to 58.5 per cent, the lowest since 1997.
The closest comparable sudden decline in economic activity and employment was caused by the 1998 ice storm that saw businesses activity in Ontario and Quebec suddenly freeze up.
The ice storm caused 166,000 people in Canada to temporarily lose all or most of their paid work. March’s number was eight times higher than that, the agency said.
The greatest hits to employment were seen in the private sector. Accommodation and food services industries were hit the hardest as a result of social distancing and forced shutdowns.
Retail trade and education also saw significant declines in employment.
The survey numbers were collected during the week of March 15 to 21 and reflect only a portion of job losses that have occurred since.
Nearly five million people have applied for the federal government’s Canada Emergency Response Benefit as of Apr. 9.
Economists are bracing for an even bigger decline for the coming months.
“We know that the April employment reading is likely to be even worse, since shutdowns only really began in earnest around the middle of March, and some employers might have tried to hold on to some employees in the early weeks of the forced closures,” Royce Mendes, executive director and senior economist at CIBC Capital Markets, wrote in a research note to clients.
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.