Canada lost 2M jobs in April as virus took hold
Drop in employment since February a record hit, StatsCan says
OTTAWA—More than one-third of Canadian workers were hit in April as the full brunt of the pandemic hit the economy, Statistics Canada reported Friday.
Close to two million jobs were lost and the unemployment rate jumped 5.2 points in April to 13 per cent in the first full month of economic restrictions, the agency reported.
Friday’s numbers paint a fuller picture of the economic toll of the government-mandated closures that have shuttered hospitality and retail businesses across the country in a bid to curb the spread of the virus.
“The actions taken by various levels of government to protect public health amounted to an intentional shutdown of the economy which resulted in a sudden shock to the Canadian labour market,” Statistics Canada reported.
But true impact of the pandemic goes further. More than one-third of the potential labour force did not work or worked less than half of their usual hours in April. This number — more than triple February’s rate — includes the unemployed, those who wanted a job but did not look for one, and workers who saw their hours cut by more than half.
By the week of April 12, the number of Canadians who were either not employed or working substantially reduced hours because of the virus totalled 5.5 million, or more than one-quarter of February’s employment level. The number of people who were employed but worked less than half of their usual hours for reasons related to COVID-19 jumped by 2.5 million from February to April.
And just over 1.1 million wanted to work but were not counted as they were not looking for jobs “presumably due to ongoing business closures and very limited opportunities to find new work,” the agency said.
Counting this group would push the April unemployment rate to 17.8 per cent.
Statistics Canada says the magnitude of the drop in employment since February — down 15.7 per cent — far exceeds losses experienced in previous downturns. The agency notes that in the 1981-1982 recession, employment dropped 5.4 per cent over 17 months.
The March numbers — which showed the loss of more than one million jobs, driving the unemployment rate up 2.2 points to 7.8 per cent — only captured the early stages of that economic impact.
Employment dropped sharply between February to April in Canada’s biggest cities, with the Toronto region seeing a loss of 539,000 jobs, pushing the unemployment rate to 11.1 per cent. Perrin Beatty, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said how quickly the pace of the recovery moves hinges on the lifting of restrictions.
“The key question is how quickly businesses can or will re-hire once the economy reopens,” Beatty said in a statement. “However, extensive social distancing measures are expected to remain for the foreseeable future and demand for goods and services will remain low in many sectors,” he said.
In response to the economic crisis, the federal government has implemented a raft of programs designed to support businesses and individuals, including wage subsidies, rent relief and the Canada Emergency Response Benefit — which pays $500 a week over 16 weeks. By May 5, 7.6 million Canadians had applied for the benefit and it had paid out $28.6 billion.