Workers assemble temporary seating high in the air for the FIFA World Cup at BMO field in Toronto on Thursday March 12, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
FNGOTTAWA - Statistics Canada reported a modest rebound in the labour market in March after two consecutive months of job losses to start the year.
The agency said employers collectively added 14,000 jobs in March, roughly in line with economists鈥 expectations.
The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.7 per cent.
StatCan said there was little variation in employment across age demographics, full- and part-time work and the private and public sectors in March.
Growth was led by a category the agency calls 鈥渙ther services,鈥 which includes repair and maintenance work in the economy. The 15,000 jobs added here offset a similar-sized decline in February, StatCan said.
The professional, scientific and technical services sector, the natural resources industry and tariff-sensitive manufacturing all posted job gains in March.
The finance, insurance, real estate and leasing sector led last month鈥檚 declines with a loss of 11,000 positions, which StatCan said was the industry鈥檚 first significant monthly decline since November 2023.
A loss of 19,000 jobs in British Columbia last month followed a similar loss in February, pushing the province鈥檚 unemployment rate up to 6.7 per cent. That鈥檚 the highest level for the province鈥檚 jobless rate in about a decade, outside the COVID-19 pandemic.
Average hourly wages across the country, meanwhile, rose 4.7 per cent year-over-year -- a jump from 3.9 per cent in February and the fastest pace since October 2024.
StatCan said some of the recent increase in wages is due to the 鈥渃omposition of employment,鈥 meaning the economy isn鈥檛 adding or maintaining as many lower-paying jobs that typically pull down the wage growth average.
Controlling for compositional factors leaves average annual wage growth at 3.6 per cent in March, StatCan said, roughly in line with January and February鈥檚 figures.
Modest job gains in March follow an up-and-down stretch for the labour market. While the final four months of 2025 saw a rapid run-up in job growth, some of those gains were offset by a loss of more than 100,000 positions across January and February of this year.
On a year-over-year basis, StatCan said total employment was up by 87,000 positions in March.
Friday鈥檚 data marks the Bank of Canada鈥檚 last look at the labour market before its next interest rate decision on April 29.
This report by 国产诱惑福利 was first published April 10, 2026.
国产诱惑福利
Get the latest from 国产诱惑福利 News in your inbox. Select the emails you're interested in below.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Tax: | |
| Today's total: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
