eginning in mid-March, a number of travel restrictions, business closures and physical distancing measures were put in place in Canada in response to COVID-19. These actions, taken by various levels of government to protect public health, amounted to an intentional shutdown of the economy. As of mid-April, this shutdown had resulted in an unprecedented shock to the Canadian labour market, including employment losses of more than 3 million. Statistics Canada continues to measure the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market as restrictions gradually ease in various parts of the country. Labour Force Survey (LFS) results ... (full story)

Canada added 290,000 jobs in May after two months of brutal layoffs, a surprise turn for the job market as provinces have only recently begun to ease lockdown restrictions. Despite the gain, the unemployment rate rose to 13.7 per cent, the highest since comparable data became available in 1976, as more people started seeking jobs. Going into Friday’s job report, it was widely assumed that Canada would experience another month of layoffs. The median estimate from economists was for employment to decline by 500,000 in May, following April’s loss of nearly two million and March’s drop of about one million. This was ... (full story)