Despite 19,200 New Jobs In March, Canadian Unemployment Hits 6.1%

Ottawa, Canada (AHN) - More jobs continued to be created across Canada. In April 19,200 new positions were created, according to Statistics Canada, almost double the forecast of 10,000 and much higher than the 14,600 new jobs created in March.

However, the high number of new jobs was no match to the larger number of job entrants, pushing up the nation's unemployment rate to 6.1 percent from 6 percent in March.

The bulk of the new jobs went to self-employed individuals and government employees, while private sector jobs actually shrank by 8,300.

But economists said Canada would not likely sustain the pace of job creation for the rest of the year. A note by the Bank of Nova Scotia to its clients, quoted by the Globe and Mail, said, "Going forward, the public sector will find it tougher to pile on such largesse as revenue pressures mount in a softening economy... At the same time, supply chain relationships with the U.S. economy carried private employment weakness north of the border."

Erin Weir, economist of the United Steelworkers Union, pointed to the rise in self employment figures as a yellow light. "One must ask whether Canadians are becoming self-employed voluntarily or because they cannot find positions paid by an employer," Weir said, quoted by the Globe and Mail.