Canada loses record 2 mn jobs in April, unemployment rate surges to 13%

As of May 5, more than 7.5 million Canadians had applied for some form of federal employment aid, according to government data.

Canada lost a record-breaking 2.0 million jobs in April while the unemployment rate surged to a near-record high 13.0%, according to official data released on Friday that did not reflect the full extent of layoffs caused by coronavirus shutdowns.

Although the numbers were not as bad as markets had feared, Statistics Canada said they did not capture the 1.1 million people who had temporarily lost their jobs and who expected to return to work once restrictions were relaxed.

Had these people been counted as jobless, the April unemployment rate would have been a record 17.8%.

Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a