N.B. Lost 1,800 Jobs in March Even Though Unemployment Rate Fell to 8 Per Cent
New Brunswick’s unemployment rate fell from 8.2 per cent to 8 per cent in March, but the province lost 1,800 jobs according to labour-force data released by Statistics Canada Friday.
The employed labour force was 354,000, down from 355,800 in February. The overall workforce dropped from 387,700 in February to 384,800, which is why the unemployment rate dropped even though there was a net loss of jobs.
There were also job losses in the province’s two largest cities, though the situation was much worse in Saint John.
The unemployment rate in the Port City jumped from 6.6 per cent in 6.9 per cent in March. The city lost 1,000 jobs with its employed labour force shrinking from 61,300 in February to 60,300 in March.
The job losses were not as great in Moncton. The unemployment rate jumped from 5.3 per cent in February to 5.7 per cent in March, and the employed labour force shrunk from 86,300 in February to 86,200 in March.
The nationwide unemployment rate stayed the same in March at 5.8 percent, but the employed workforce grew by 32,000.
Here are the jobless rates last month by city (revised numbers from the previous month in brackets):
- St. John’s, N.L. 8.6 per cent (8.5)
- Halifax 6.0 (6.4)
- Moncton 5.7 (5.3)
- Saint John 6.9 (6.6)
- Saguenay, Que. 5.6 (5.8)
- Quebec 3.6 (3.2)
- Sherbrooke, Que. 5.7 (5.8)
- Trois-Rivieres, Que. 5.4 (5.0)
- Montreal 6.1 (6.0)
- Gatineau, Que. 4.7 (4.5)
- Ottawa 4.9 (5.3)
- Kingston, Ont. 5.4 (5.4)
- Peterborough, Ont. 4.8 (4.9)
- Oshawa, Ont. 4.5 (4.8)
- Toronto 5.8 (5.8)
- Hamilton, Ont. 5.3 (5.3)
- St. Catharines-Niagara, Ont. 5.6 (5.2)
- Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Ont. 5.1 (5.3)
- Brantford, Ont. 6.7 (5.1)
- Guelph, Ont. 4.9 (5.3)
- London, Ont. 6.3 (6.7)
- Windsor, Ont. 5.2 (4.9)
- Barrie, Ont. 8.8 (6.9)
- Sudbury, Ont. 6.8 (6.7)
- Thunder Bay, Ont. 5.1 (5.8)
- Winnipeg 6.3 (6.0)
- Regina 5.0 (4.9)
- Saskatoon 6.5 (6.9)
- Calgary 8.2 (7.9)
- Edmonton 6.7 (6.9)
- Kelowna, B.C. 5.2 (5.8)
- Abbotsford, B.C. 4.0 (4.1)
- Vancouver 4.0 (3.9)
- Victoria 4.5 (4.4)