After slowing, the job market stopped its progress in March and the unemployment rate rose from 5.8% to 6.1% in Canada.
Quebec lost 18,000 jobs and the unemployment rate reached 5%, indicates Statistics Canada. Despite this 0.3% increase in the unemployment rate in March, Quebec remains, along with Manitoba, the province with the lowest unemployment rate in the country.
Among the largest cities in the country, Ontario has the highest unemployment rate. The Toronto metropolitan area has an unemployment rate of 7.5%, compared to 5.7% for Montreal. It is in Quebec that the unemployment rate is the lowest in the country, at 3.1%.
The increase in the unemployment rate in March was expected, but it is higher than economists forecast. At 6.1%, the unemployment rate in Canada is up 1% over the past year.
Nationwide, employment fell by 2,200 in March, after increasing by 40,700 in February. It increased by 26,000 in Ontario and decreased by 18,000 in Quebec. The accommodation and food services and retail sectors lost the most jobs.
Employment increased in the health care sector and in construction.
In Quebec, the decrease of 18,000 in the number of jobs in March mainly affects young people. Over the past year, the number of jobs has remained stable in the province while the working age population has increased by 2.1%.
The current weakness of the Canadian economy is reflected in job creation. Over the past year, employment has grown more rapidly in the public sector (+4.8%), while the private sector stagnates with an increase of 1.1% in the number of jobs.
Over the past year, the number of jobs has increased by 1.6% in Canada, but the working age population has increased twice as much, at 3.2%.
Statistics Canada reports a new increase in the average salary, of 5.1%, which follows a 5% increase in February.
The March Labor Force Survey is the last before the next Bank of Canada interest rate decision scheduled for next Wednesday, April 10.