By Canadian Press

Statistics Canada set to unveil May jobs numbers

Jun 4, 2021 | 2:05 AM

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada will say today how the job market fared in May as lockdowns to slow the pandemic continued to keep many businesses closed.

The economy lost 207,000 jobs in April as a spike in COVID-19 cases led to renewed public health restrictions and the unemployment rate rose to 8.1 per cent.

With many of those lockdowns continuing into May, RBC senior economist Nathan Janzen expects the report today to show another loss of jobs.

Another loss, or even a small gain, would still leave the job market short of its pre-pandemic levels.

Statistics Canada reported last month that the loss in April left the country short about 503,100 jobs, or 2.6 per cent below levels in February 2020 before the pandemic.

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The agency said the actual gap would be closer to 686,000 jobs after accounting for population growth during the pandemic.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2021.

The Canadian Press