Omicron Restrictions Led To January Job Slump
FREDERICTON — The country stumbled into 2022 with the national labour market hit with employment setbacks in January, mainly due to the latest round of lockdowns and restrictions in several provinces, all part of attempts to limit the spread of the Covid-19 Omicron variant.
According to Statistics Canada, the country lost roughly 200,100 jobs in January, interrupting a streak of monthly job gains going back to last summer. The national unemployment rate rose to 6.5 per cent in January, up from 6 per cent in December.
In its January Labour Force Survey, Stats Can notes declines came almost entirely from private sector employees, the largest drop since January of last year when the national economy lost 207,800 jobs.
Atlantic Canada food and hospitality sectors reeling from restrictions
New Brunswick lost 3,100 jobs in January while the unemployment rate was little changed at 8.5 per cent.
The downtrend comes after New Brunswick introduced capacity limits at restaurants, retail stores, malls and gyms at the end of December, and the closure of dine-in service at restaurants, entertainment centres, gyms and hair salons in January when the province entered Level 3 of its Covid-19 Winter Plan, measures that were in place for two weeks throughout the province.
Despite restrictions in Nova Scotia, which moved before Christmas to limit maximums for social gatherings to 10 people while reducing hours for restaurants and dining rooms, the province still added over 2,700 jobs in January, dropping the provincial unemployment rate to 7 per cent from 8.1 per cent in December.
The modest gain was mainly pushed mainly by additions throughout the manufacturing sector, offsetting another disappointing month for accommodation and food services in Nova Scotia, which declined by 2,200 positions in January.
Prince Edward Island posted the largest proportional decrease in employment, losing 2,900 positions in January. The drop coincided with new capacity limits at gyms, and reduced hours of operation at restaurants. The unemployment rate in PEI rose 1.9 percentage points to 9.6 per cent for January.
Newfoundland and Labrador, with reduced capacity at its restaurants and fitness centres and the closure of bars and performance spaces, saw employment fall by 3,900 jobs in January, after little change in December 2021. The decline was mainly in part-time work with the province’s unemployment rate rising 0.9 percentage points to 12.8 per cent.
The unemployment rate was lower in January in Halifax (5.9 per cent) and Moncton (6.4 per cent), while Saint John’s unemployment rate rose to 8.2 per cent, up from 7.7 per cent in December.
Employment losses mostly affected youth
Similar to previous waves of the pandemic, youth aged 15-to-24 were most affected by employment losses across the country in January, reflecting the fact that they are more likely to work in industries directly affected by COVID-19 public health measures.
Youth saw notable declines in both part-time (-93,000; -7.1 per cent) and full-time (-46,000; -3.5 per cent) work.
Employment declines were similar for teenagers (aged 15 to 19) and for youth in their early 20s (aged 20 to 24), as well as for both young men and young women.
Largest employment decline in accommodation and food services since first wave
Employment fell by 113,000 in accommodation and food services across the country in January, the largest monthly decline in the industry since April 2020.
In many provinces, businesses in accommodation and food services faced public health restrictions, particularly In Ontario and Quebec, which accounted for nearly all employment decline in the accommodation and food services sectors due to ongoing bans throughout January on indoor dining.
Employment across other services-producing industries in information, culture and recreation (-48,000) and retail trade (-26,000) also experienced January declines.
Many jobs still at home
Many Canadians continue to work from home.
Almost one-quarter of all workers from the January labour force survey, (24 per cent) reported they usually work exclusively at home, with four in 10 people (roughly 43 per cent) claiming to work “most of their hours” from home.
Stats Can notes for some, working remotely has again been part of a series of short-term adaptations in response to the latest tightening of public health restrictions, while others reported it has been their work reality since March 2020.
Tyler Mclean is a Huddle reporter based in Fredericton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].