Employment Losses: Unemployment Rate and Jobs

employment losses: The increase in the unemployment rate, which topped the previous record of 13.1 per cent set in December 1982, came as more people started looking for work, according to CTV. The monthly labour force survey showed that men gained back more jobs than women in May, resulting in a wider gender gap in employment losses as a result of COVID-19, and that the pandemic continued to disproportionately affect lower-wage workers. Still, the unemployment rate in May rose to 13.7 per cent, the highest level in more than four decades of comparable data. The increase in the number of jobs -- which mirrored a similar bump in the U.S. -- came after three million jobs were lost over March and April and about 2.5 million more had their hours slashed. Combined with the increase in jobs, Statistics Canada said the country recovered 10.6 per cent of employment losses and absences related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Statistics Canada said the number of people who worked less than half their usual hours fell by 292,000 in May. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.