Halifax Lost 800 Jobs In April, Amid Third Wave Of Covid-19
HALIFAX – Throughout the past year, Halifax’s growth caused the city to have strong, increasing, employment numbers, despite the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. But in April, Halifax saw a slight dip in employment numbers – not surprising considering the rapid increase in Covid case numbers during that month and onwards.
According to the latest report by Statistics Canada, Halifax lost 800 jobs – dropping to a total of 241,700. Despite the drop in overall job numbers, the city’s unemployment rate slightly decreased last month as well, going from 8.2 to 8.1 percent.
Halifax’s decline in jobs led to an overall decrease across Nova Scotia. The province, according to the StatsCan report, lost 900 jobs overall throughout all regions in April.
The hardest-hit sectors included goods-producing (-1,600), construction (-1,900), wholesale and retail (-1,700), accommodation and food service (-800), and agriculture (-1000).
Despite the new wave of Covid-19 in Nova Scotia since April, some industries across the province produced a large increase in employment. Industries such as natural resources (+1,200), service-producing (+700), business, building, and support services (+1,700), education services (1,500), and healthcare and social assistance (+1,300), all saw healthy gains.
Halifax’s and Nova Scotia’s employment woes in April were par for the course across Canada. The third wave of the pandemic has led to a 1.1 percent employment decrease across the country. This number translates to a total job loss of 207,000. Nearly the entirety of job losses (204,000) came in the private sector.
The third wave of the pandemic has continued to force Canadians to work from home. According to Statistics Canada, 100,000 more people in April joined the ranks of remote workers who spend at least half of their workday at home offices.
There are currently 5.1 million Canadians working remotely. Of this number 3.1 million are new to working from home since the pandemic.