Infographic 1
Highlights part 1

Infographic description

The title of the infographic is "Highlights part 1"

This is a text box that presents the highlights of the release.

Labour market responds as COVID-19 restrictions gradually ease

From February to April, employment fell by more than 3 million. The number of Canadians who remained employed but worked less than half their usual hours increased by 2.5 million, bringing the total impact of COVID-19 to 5.5 million. Employment rose by 290,000 (+1.8%) in May and COVID-19-related absences fell by 292,000 (-8.6%). This represented a recovery of 10.6% of the COVID-19-related employment losses and absences recorded from February to April.

In April, the unemployment rate reached 13.0%, driven by a large number of temporary layoffs. In May, the number of temporary layoffs stabilised but the unemployment rate increased to 13.7% as some Canadians re-entered the labour market looking for work.

From February to April, the number of people in the labour force fell by 1.7 million people, including 1.1 million who had recently worked and wanted a job but didn't look for one. In May, the labour force expanded by 491,000, including an increase of 201,000 in the number of unemployed people. More than one-third of the potential labour force remained underutilised in May.

Source(s): Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey.