Labor markets in the Atlantic provinces did especially well, while increases in unemployment rates due to COVID-19 are the strongest in major cities in Canada, according to the BMO 's June quarterly report on labor market trends.
The closure of non-essential services to contain COVID-19 spread was disastrous for the Canadian labor market, but the job rate of the nation rebounded in June.
BMO's Labor Market Card latest issue figures show that Canada has now regained 41 percent of jobs lost due to the coronavirus pandemic. Current unemployment rates in Canada in June stood at 12.3%, up 6.7% last year.
New Brunswick (NB) did the best, with unemployment rising up to just 2 per cent since last year to 9.9%. It is the only province with a rate of unemployment currently below 10 per cent.
The Moncton city, one of the three main urban centres in New Brunswick, lost just 2.7 percent of the jobs it had a year ago and has a 9.1 percent unemployment rate, well below the national average of 12.3 per cent.
Although there are slightly higher unemployment rates in Nova Scotia (NS), Prince Edward Island (PEI) and Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), there are year-over-year changes below the National average.
Although Quebec witnessed the greatest drop in jobs due to COVID-19, it also experienced the fastest recovery among all provinces in June
The current rate of unemployment in Ontario and its job recovery are on a par with overall rates in Canada. Ontario reported a jobless rate of 12.2 per cent in June.
Manitoba and Saskatchewan have recorded smaller unemployment declines than other provinces, as well as the second and third lowest drops in percentage points from pre-crisis rates (7.2 % and 7.3 % respectively).
In June, British Columbia had a 13 per cent unemployment rate, up 8.4 percentage points from its pre-crisis rates.
The coronavirus pandemic struck hardest in labor markets of major Canadian cities, such as Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary.
The Canadian economy began to recover from the 3 million jobs lost between February and April, when coronavirus restrictions began to be lifted across the nation. As of June, Canada added 953,000 jobs. Economic recovery started quite moderately with290, 000 people returning to work in May. The labor market has recovered by 40% over the past months.
