Articles : Employment at its lowest point since August; economy lost 213,000 jobs in January

The economy lost 213,000 jobs in January, bringing employment to its lowest level since August.

The declines in January were concentrated in part-time work, specifically in Ontario and Quebec where significant public health measures were implemented at the end of December.

Declines in part-time employment mostly occurred among youths between the ages of 15 to 24 (-10.2%) and women in the core working age of 25 to 54 (-10.4%).

Employment declined last month in three services-producing industries, again, due to the continuing public health restrictions with accommodation and food services at -8.2%, retail trade at -7.4%, and culture and recreation at -2.4%.

The number of people working in health care and social assistance was little changed and increased at 0.7%, bringing employment in the sector back to pre-COVID levels.

A number of industries with a high proportion of full-time work like professional, scientific, technical services, finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing have recovered to pre-COIVD levels in recent months and were unchanged in January.

The number of people working from home increased by nearly 700,000 to 5.4 million last month, which surpassed the previous amount of 5.1 million people working from home in April during the first wave.

The reasons for more Canadians working from home are due to changes in the work location of current jobs, work location for new hires, and the new public health measures adopted by Ontario and Quebec. The increase can also be contributed to the number of people working from home in the education sector due to schools temporarily transitioning back to remote learning.

The unemployment rate rose to 9.4%, the highest rate since August 2020.

References:
Statistics Canada