By Tyler Marr

P.A. unemployment down as Canada adds 32K jobs in March

Apr 6, 2018 | 12:00 PM

Canada added 32,000 new jobs in March, outperforming expectations and keeping the national unemployment rate at its record-low 5.8 per cent.

According to Statistics Canada’s monthly data, more than 68,000 full-time positions were added across the nation last month, while part-time employment fell by 35,900. The gains were driven heavily by full-time work, mostly in the construction and public sectors, while private sector employment dipped by 7,000 positions.

Over the past 12 months, employment across the country rose by 296,000 jobs. Over the same period, hours worked ticked up by 2.2 per cent.

Unemployment was largely unchanged in most provinces, though Central Canada saw strong growth. In Quebec employment rose by 16,000 positions during March, while Ontario added 10,000 net positions. British Columbia saw employment remain virtually unchanged. 

By percentage, Saskatchewan and Alberta each saw solid monthly growth. Saskatchewan saw employment rise by 4,200 jobs in March, though the unemployment rate ticked up by 0.2 points to 5.8 per cent. Year-over-year, employment is up 1.8 per cent, or 41,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate has declined 2 points. To the west, Alberta’s unemployment rate has been on a strong downward trend since its peak of 9 per cent in November of 2016. Its unemployment rate fell by 0.4 points in March to 6.3 per cent, thanks to an addition of 8,000 jobs. 

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Locally, the unemployment rate was down drastically year-over-year. In March of 2018, Prince Albert’s unemployment rate was 6.7 per cent, compared to 12.1 at this time last year. However, the number of people participating in the workforce, which includes both those working and those looking for work, has fallen significantly to 65.8 per cent from 68.4. The local labour force also shrunk over the past 12 months, from 23,200 to 22,500. 

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr