Statistics Canada said on that Canada’s economy lost 84,000 jobs in March, bringing the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent. This was a setback for the job market and one of the worst monthly job losses in years, outside of the pandemic.
The drop in jobs was mostly due to a drop in full-time and private sector jobs, which made up for a short period of growth seen earlier in the fall.
The goods and services-producing industries lost the most jobs, with 18,000 jobs lost in wholesale and retail trade, 12,000 lost in construction, and 9,200 lost in manufacturing. The drop hurt men between the ages of 25 and 54 and young people between the ages of 15 and 24 the most.
The unemployment rate 6.6% in March 2026, the employment rate and the number of people working full-time or part-time were all about the same time last year.
In March, the participation rate (the number of people who had a job or were looking for one) dropped by 0.1 percentage points to 64.9%. Compared to the same time last year, the average hourly wage went up 3.9%, or $1.42, to $37.56.
Katherine Judge the executive director and senior economist at CIBC Capital Markets said that the job market took a worrisome turn in March, especially with the loss of full-time jobs in the private sector.
She wrote that the drop in jobs and the rise in unemployment were not what analysts had expected. They had thought that the labor market would gain 10,000 jobs and that the unemployment rate would rise more slowly.”This is clearly a very worrisome report for the [Bank of Canada] that shows that there is more slack in the labor market and activity is frozen because of trade uncertainty,” said Judge.
Before making its next interest rate decision next Wednesday, the central bank will look at one more important piece of economic data the inflation numbers that come out on Monday. Most economists thought the Bank would keep rates where they are as of Friday afternoon.
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Economist says report is “exceptionally weak”
Statistics Canada says that the unemployment rate went up or stayed the same in nine of the 13 provinces and territories last month.
The unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 24 rose to 14.1 percent which is bad news for a group that has been having trouble finding work for the past two years. The data agency said that the rates for racialized youth were “notably higher” than those for non-racialized, non-Indigenous youth.
Carney says that even though Canada lost 84,000 jobs last month, it is still ahead of the U.S. in creating jobs.Douglas Porter, the Bank of Montreal’s chief economist, told CBC News that the fact that the unemployment rate is almost the same as it was a year ago makes him feel a little better about this result.Still, I think the main point is that it was very weak at the start of the year. In the last year, there has been almost no growth in jobs. And that’s not good for the economy.
Carney says that uncertainty about trade with the U.S. is causing big adjustments and Canada reports job losses in March.
March Length 2:26 Prime Minister Mark Carney was asked about Statistics Canada’s most recent report at a news conference in Norway on Friday. The report said that the economy lost 84,000 jobs in March and that the unemployment rate rose to 6.7 percent.
Porter said that the report being exceptionally weak should put an end to any talk of interest rate hikes which the markets had been expecting for the second half of the year.He said, “I really think the bank should be seriously thinking about lowering rates if the economy stays this weak for the next few months.”In addition to the fact that higher oil prices will hurt people’s disposable income, we also have the uncertainty of the USMCA and no job growth. I don’t think the Bank of Canada will raise rates in that situation.
