Employment in Canada rose by 290,000 in May, the data published by Statistics Canada showed on Friday. Despite this increase, the Unemployment Rate climbed to 13.7% from 13% in April to mark the highest reading since 1976.
Key takeaways from the press release
“Three-quarters of the employment gains from April to May were in full-time work (+219,000 or +1.6%).”
“Compared with February, full-time employment was down 11.1% in May, while part-time work was down 27.6%.”
“In February, prior to the COVID-19 economic shutdown, the unemployment rate was 5.6%. It increased to 7.8% in March and 13.0% in April.”
“In May, unemployment grew more slowly (+201,000; +8.3%) than in the previous two months and there was little change in the number of people on temporary layoff.”
Market reaction
The USD/CAD pair fell sharply on the upbeat data and was last seen trading at 1.3422, losing 0.55% on the day.
Share
