Canada’s Unemployment Rate Jumps to 6.1% in March as Job Growth Comes to a Halt

Canada’s unemployment rate jumped to 6.1 percent in March as more people looked for work, Statistics Canada reported on April 5. The figure is up from 5.8 percent in February and marks the largest increase in the unemployment rate since summer 2022. The federal agency’s labour force survey shows employment was little changed last month, with the economy shedding 2,200 jobs, after modest increases over the last several months. “The cracks that had been emerging within the Canadian labour market suddenly got a lot wider,” wrote CIBC’s executive director of economics, Andrew Grantham, in a client note. The jump in unemployment comes as high interest rates weigh on the economy and strong population growth continues to add to the country’s labour supply....