Skip to Content News Archives Economy Energy Oil & Gas Renewables Electric Vehicles Mining Commodities Agriculture Real Estate Mortgages Mortgage Rates Finance Banking Insurance Fintech Cryptocurrency Work Wealth Smart Money Wealth Management Investor Personal Finance Family Finance Retirement Taxes High Net Worth FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials More Innovation Information Technology FP500 Podcasts Small Business Lives Told Tails Told Shopping Financial Post Store Obituaries Place a Notice Advertising Advertising With Us Advertising Solutions Postmedia Ad Manager Sponsorship Requests Classifieds Place a Classifieds ad Working Profile Settings My Subscriptions Saved Articles My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ News Economy Energy Mining Real Estate Finance Work Wealth Investor FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials HomeNewsEconomyWorkCanada's unemployment rate rises to 6.9% as economy sheds more jobsJobless rate among youth climbs to over 14%Last updated 1 week ago You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.Canada's unemployment rate rose to 6.9 per cent in April. Photo by BloombergCanada’s unemployment rate rose to 6.9 per cent in April as the economy lost 18,000 jobs and more people searched for work, but economists expect the labour market will recover once there’s more certainty in the outlook.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorThe data, released by Statistics Canada on Friday, showed that the economy shed 49,000 full-time jobs for the month, while part-time work edged up by 29,000 positions.Economists had expected employment to pick up moderately in April and the unemployment rate to trend lower or hold steady.FP Work touches on HR strategy, labour economics, office culture, technology and more.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Work will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againClaire Fan, senior economist for Royal Bank of Canada Capital Markets, called the unemployment rate “concerning” but said her forecasts for the rest of the year are still relatively positive.“Looking at the details, I don’t think there’s anything that would turn those expectations going forward to the worst,” she said in an interview.“We’re looking at pretty volatile labour market data, and the unemployment rate did go up, but it’s more driven by people looking for work, as opposed to people getting fired or being laid off. We’re still seeing some pretty stagnant conditions, especially when it comes to hiring in Canada, which is contributing to a lot of the choppy progress in the labour market.”April’s job losses came after Canada gained 14,000 jobs in March, when the unemployment rate held steady at 6.7 per cent.The unemployment rate for April increased to 14.3 per cent among youth aged 15 to 24 and 6.1 per cent among men aged 25 to 54, up from 13.8 per cent and 5.8 per cent a month earlier.The country has now lost 112,000 jobs over the first four months of 2026, mainly in the manufacturing and wholesale sectors. Most of these job losses were concentrated in Quebec, which has lost 87,000 jobs so far.The majority were full-time positions, which are down 111,000 since January.Desjardins senior economist Laura Gu said the drop in employment is consistent with a shrinking pool of workers due to an aging population and slower immigration trends following changes to Canada’s immigration laws.She also highlighted that the number of layoffs, while high, remained steady in April.StatCan said the monthly layoff rate in April — 0.6 per cent — remained in line with pre-pandemic averages and showed no recent elevation.“That is signalling that unemployment is more due to hiring freezes instead of layoffs,” Gu said.Fan said the job numbers don’t necessarily signal a weak economy. StatCan’s preliminary estimates suggest the economy is on track for a 1.7 per cent annualized GDP increase in the first quarter of 2026, after the economy contracted at an annualized rate of 0.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2025.Consumer spending on non-energy items and business sentiment were also “quite positive” in April, Fan said, even though the war in Iran has raised energy prices and made Canada’s economic outlook more uncertain.“Of course, the longer this oil shock lasts, the bigger the possibility of demand destruction coming through,” she noted. Demand destruction is the permanent or prolonged loss of demand for a product or service due to a sudden or sustained increase in its price.“But that certainly is not what we’ve seen so far.… Despite all the negative headlines surrounding geopolitics and CUSMA negotiations, broader trends — GDP growth, business sentiments, etc. — all point to improvement.”Gu said, however, that unemployment will remain high until Canada’s economic outlook becomes more favourable and companies start hiring again.Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem told MPs at a House of Commons finance committee meeting this week that the central bank will have no choice but to raise interest rates if high energy prices and inflation become persistent.“It is a tough job market. That is the reality, even for experienced job seekers,” Gu said.“We do see growth to recover once there’s more certainty.” Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.