Unemployment Rate Edges Up

CBJ — Despite the creation of about 30,000 jobs across the country, Canada’s unemployment rate actually rose .1% to 5.6% last month. That’s because more people were actively seeking work in February.
According to figures released by Statistics Canada it was a particularly good month for Quebec, which now has an unemployment rate of 4.5%, and is the lowest it’s been in about 40 years.
The monthly jobs report came just days after the Bank of Canada’s decision to cut its interest rate by .5% to 1.25% due to uncertainty over COVID-19 and its potential to create economic unrest.
Provincial jobless rates (January figures in parenthesis):
- Newfoundland and Labrador 12.0% (11.9%)
- Prince Edward Island 8.0 (7.5)
- Nova Scotia 7.8 (7.4)
- New Brunswick 6.9 (7.5)
- Quebec 4.5 (5.1)
- Ontario 5.5 (5.2)
- Manitoba 5.0 (5.1)
- Saskatchewan 6.2 (6.0)
- Alberta 7.2 (7.3)
- British Columbia 5.0 (4.5)
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