Canada Employment
Research Brief

Labour market stays tight even with ongoing uncertainty. Canada’s economy added 34,700 jobs in March, beating the consensus estimate of 12,000. As a result, total employment gains in the first quarter of the year reached just under 210,000. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.0 per cent, a near historic low, even as the labour force continued to grow on the heels of record-breaking population growth. Employment gains in March were entirely driven by the service sectors, with transportation and warehousing leading the way. In contrast, employment fell in each of the good-producing sectors. While the Bank of Canada has stated that unemployment needs to rise in order to fully commit to an interest rate pause, additional indicators suggest that the next policy rate change will likely be a cut, rather than a hike.