Canada lost 29,000 jobs between March and April but the unemployment rate month-to-month remained unchanged at 6.9%.
Despite the loss of jobs, Statistics Canada reported on May 9 the unemployment rate remained steady due to people leaving the workforce.
Canada’s unemployment rate a year ago was 7.2%.
But in a note to clients, CIBC economist Avery Shefeld said the Statistics Canada data could have been impacted by the fact the survey was conducted on the week of the Good Friday holiday, April 14-18.
“The last time Good Friday fell in the survey week for April was in 2003. In that case, not only did hours worked take a nosedive, but employment dropped (13,000), vs. an average gain of nearly (30,000) in the six months leading up to that month,” he said.
“That’s not proof that the employment number in either April 2003 or 2014 was distorted downward, but it at least raises some doubts to be clarified in upcoming months.”
Falling in line with the national trend, British Columbia unemployment rate remained unchanged from March to April. B.C. reported an unemployment rate of 5.8% as the province shed 3,700 jobs while another 1,900 left the workforce.
Employees in both the public and private sectors dropped by 7,700 and 9,600, respectively.
The number of self-employed British Columbians grew by 13,700.
Quebec lost the most jobs in Canada as employment fell by 32,000 from March to April. Like the rest of Canada, its unemployment rate was unchanged month-to-month at 7.6%.
Year-over-year, the number of people working in Canada went up 0.8%. The 149,000 jobs added between April 2013 and April 2014 were split evenly between part-time and full-time work.
