Canada's unemployment rate reached a historic high of 13.7 percent in May as the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to exact its toll on the country's economy, Statistics Canada said in its jobs report for the month of May on Friday
TORONTO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th June, 2020) Canada's unemployment rate reached a historic high of 13.7 percent in May as the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to exact its toll on the country's economy, Statistics Canada said in its jobs report for the month of May on Friday.
"The unemployment rate was 13.7 percent in May, the highest rate recorded since comparable data became available in 1976," Statistics Canada said in the Labor Force Survey report for May. "In February, prior to the COVID-19 economic shutdown, the unemployment rate was 5.6 percent. It increased to 7.8 percent in March and 13.0 percent in April."
The Canadian economy did add 289,600 jobs in May and 292,000 resumed their normal work hours, representing a recovery of 10.6 percent of the 5.5 million who lost their employment or had their hours cut throughout March and April.
Young Canadians continue to face the biggest obstacles in the labor market despite employment among those aged 15 to 24 increasing by 30,000 in May. Overall, 843,000 jobs for this age group were lost between February to May and the year-over-decrease in employment is 39.7 percent in May.
Statistics Canada announced last week that the Canadian economy contracted by 8.2 percent in the first quarter of 2020.
