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mahatmakanejeeves

(70,900 posts) Fri May 8, 2026, 05:55 PM May 8

Canada's economy dropped 18,000 jobs in April as unemployment rose to 6-month high

Source: CBC

Business
Canada's economy dropped 18,000 jobs in April as unemployment rose to 6-month high

Loss follows addition of 14,000 jobs in March

Thomson Reuters · Posted: May 08, 2026 8:59 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Canada's unemployment ‌rate rose to a six-month high of 6.9 per cent in April as the economy lost 18,000 jobs, Statistics Canada data showed on Friday, indicating a continued weakness in the labour market which has struggled in the face of U.S. tariffs and trade uncertainty.

While Canada has added 67,000 jobs since April 2025, since the start of this year it has lost a cumulative 112,000.

Last month's loss means Canada has lost jobs in three out of the four months so far this year, showing a rocky start for the labour market in 2026, according to CIBC economist Andrew Grantham.

The drop was concentrated in full-time jobs, which lost a net of ‌46,700 people, offset only by a gain of 29,000 jobs in the part-time sector.

Monthly change in jobs in Canada

{snip interactive chart}

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-jobs-april-2026-9.7192292

It's their day too.

2 replies

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Canada's economy dropped 18,000 jobs in April as unemployment rose to 6-month high (Original Post) mahatmakanejeeves May 8 OP

looks like they have real numbers Skittles May 9 #1

From the source: mahatmakanejeeves May 13 #2

Skittles

(172,982 posts)

1. looks like they have real numbers

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Sat May 9, 2026, 04:55 AM

May 9

mahatmakanejeeves

(70,900 posts)

2. From the source:

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Wed May 13, 2026, 09:20 AM

May 13

Labour Force Survey, April 2026

Released: 2026-05-08

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/260508/dq260508a-eng.pdf

Highlights

Employment was little changed in April (-18,000; -0.1%) and the employment rate fell 0.1 percentage points to 60.5%.

The unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 6.9%, as more people searched for work.

Employment varied little across major age groups in April. However, the unemployment rate increased among youth aged 15 to 24 (+0.5 percentage points to 14.3%) and among core-aged men aged 25 to 54 (+0.3 percentage points to 6.1%).

Fewer people were employed in Quebec (-43,000; -0.9%), Newfoundland and Labrador (-5,200; -2.1%), Saskatchewan (-4,000; -0.6%) and New Brunswick (-2,700; -0.7%). Employment increased in Ontario (+42,000; +0.5%) and was little changed in the other provinces.

Average hourly wages among employees were up 4.5% (+$1.64 to $37.77) on a year-over-year basis in April, following growth of 4.7% in March (not seasonally adjusted).

{snip}

Next release
The next release of the LFS will be on June 5, 2026. May 2026 data will reflect labour market conditions during the week of May 10 to 16.

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