A Stats Canada report on Friday showed a second consecutive month of job losses across the country, as COVID-19 lockdowns continued to have a negative impact on the workforce in May.
Overall around 68,000 jobs were lost in May, the majority of that was part-time work, adding to the 207,000 jobs dropped in April.
Ontario and Nova Scotia accounted for most of the losses, while the rest of the country stayed relatively neutral.
#Employment fell 68,000 (-0.4%) in May, adding to a decline of 207,000 in April. The number of #employed people working less than half their usual hours increased for a second consecutive month. https://t.co/Bx1Q3a7c0k #CdnEcon pic.twitter.com/y5Nw3Kiofd
— Statistics Canada (@StatCan_eng) June 4, 2021
Saskatchewan however was a lone bright spot, as we were the only province to see employment gains last month, adding 4,100 jobs in May over April. An increase of almost 12 percent has been seen since April of 2020, pointing toward continued growth throughout the whole pandemic.
“May’s job numbers show that Saskatchewan is leading Canada’s economic recovery,” Immigration and Career Training Minister Jeremy Harrison said in a release. “Saskatchewan employers are hiring as shown by over 8,000 jobs posted currently on Saskjobs.ca, and recent private sector investments, worth billions of dollars, will create thousands of more good jobs and opportunities for Saskatchewan people in the months and years ahead.”
Around Canada about 5.1-million people continue to work from home.
The national unemployment rate was at 8.2 percent, Saskatchewan’s was at 6.3 percent.
Economists are expecting things to improve in the months ahead as provinces vaccinate more people for COVID-19, and pandemic restrictions are expected to ease throughout the summer.
