Canada lost 54,500 jobs in March, the biggest single-month blow to the country’s employment numbers in four years.
The economic stumble wiped out the gains of the previous month and sent the country’s unemployment rate to 7.2 per cent.
The manufacturing industry took one of the biggest hits with 24,200 jobs wiped out, while accommodation and food services lost 24,900 jobs. Another 24,300 people found themselves out of work in public administration, and corrections lost almost 10,000 jobs.
Among the areas that saw gains was the self-employment sector -- 38,700 added jobs -- although it’s considered to be low-paying overall.
The number of people who lost employer-paid work was actually 93,100, with 85,400 in the private sector.
"The underlying numbers are ugly (but) the employment decline would have been even worse but for a large jump in self-reported self-employment," said labour economist Erin Weir.
It should become quickly apparent over the next two quarters that the health of the economy is not what we would wish.
Increasing the amount of QE in the system four times has simply bought some time for both American and Canadian economies and stock markets.
Now that time is rapidly coming to a close.
The stock market is peaking.
The Canadian economy is slipping.
Unemployment is rising as traditional jobs become scarce. Perhaps out of necessity we are seeing an increase in self-employment.
The next big hit to the Canadian economy should come when the price of oil falls substantially.
The price pattern on the charts implies a drop in oil to the low $80s.
While it may take six months to play out, the implications for construction related energy jobs is rather dim.
Once this kicks in, expect the over-inflated Canadian housing market to finally crash.
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