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Canada lost 1,011,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate shot up to 7.8% in March from 5.6% in February, StatsCan says. The number dwarfs the previous record of 129,000, set in January of 2009 at the height of the last recession. It's twice what economists predicted.
In the U.S., 10% of the labour force is now out of work as 6.6 million people filed jobless claims last month.
The U.S. job losses last month far surpass the worst-case scenario economists had anticipated. They show roughly 1 in 10 workers lost their jobs in the past 3 weeks. It's now predicted the jobless rate could hit 15% in April as more companies close due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Markets climb despite staggering unemployment numbers in both the United States and Canada. Dow up 440 (1.8%) while TSX climbs 360 (2.5%). Investors appear reassured after US Fed unveils $2.3T liquidity program to support local governments and small and medium-sized businesses.
March employment fell in all provinces, Statistics Canada says. Ontario suffered the largest drop with 403,000 losses (5.3%), followed by Quebec with 264,000 (6.0%), B.C. with 132,000 (5.2%), and Alberta with 117,000 (5.0%).
Besides the number of people who lost their jobs in March, the people who were still employed experienced a massive drop in the number of hours worked. 2.1 million people saw their hours fall, which is 8 times higher than during the ice storm of January 1998.
