Employment Holds Steady In New Brunswick As Province Recovers
New Brunswick lost 700 jobs in August but with fewer people looking for work the unemployment rate also fell to 9.4 percent, according to Statistics Canada’s latest labour force survey. That rate was 9.8 percent in July 2020, and 8.5 percent in August 2019.
This is the second consecutive month that employment held steady in New Brunswick, following significant increases in May and June, the agency said Friday.
In July, Statistics Canada said the province saw “the most complete employment recovery of all provinces to date” when employment stood at 96.6 percent of its February level before Covid-19 restrictions came into place.
In August, 348,000 people were employed in New Brunswick, down 0.2 percent from the previous month.
New Brunswick’s largest cities tell a slightly different story than the province’s overall numbers. Moncton and Saint John gained 900 and 300 jobs, respectively, between July and August.
Nova Scotia had the largest employment gain in Atlantic Canada with an increase of 7,200 jobs, mostly in part-time work. However, the unemployment rate only dropped slightly, by 0.5 percentage points, to 10.3 percent, as participation increased. Halifax gained 7,900 jobs from July to August.
One year ago, the unemployment rate in Nova Scotia stood at 7.9 percent.
P.E.I. also added 1,600 jobs in August, all in full-time work, and the unemployment rate fell by one percentage point to 10.7 percent. In August 2019, the unemployment rate on P.E.I. stood at 7.6 percent.
Across Canada, employment numbers continue to rebound as public health restrictions have substantially eased.
Nationally, employment increased by 246,000 in August, pushing the unemployment rate down 0.7 percentage points to 10.2 percent.
All of the employment increase in August was in full-time work, which rose by 206,000, while the number of part-time workers was little changed.
Combined with gains in May through July, employment is now within 1.1 million of its pre-Covid level in February.
The total number of Canadian workers affected by the Covid-19 economic shutdown stands at 1.8 million, down from a peak of 5.5 million in April. That includes 713,000 Canadians who worked less than half their usual hours due to Covid-19.
With files from Brad Perry, news director with Country 94/97.3 The Wave, a Huddle content partner.