Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey results say Canada lost 200,000 jobs in January.
The surge of Omicron cases in Canada forced businesses to close in January. As a result, Canada lost 200,000 jobs and unemployment rose to 6.5%.
Statistics Canada’s newest Labour Force Survey captures Canada’s labour data from the week of January 9 to 15. By then, public health measures included capacity limits in retail stores and closures of restaurants, bars, concert halls and gyms. Many schools also switched to online learning.
Employment declines were largely driven by Ontario and Quebec. Accommodation and food services was the hardest-hit industry. Youth (ages 15 to 24) and women core-aged women (25 to 54 years old) were more likely than other demographics to work in industries affected by closures. For core-aged people identifying as belonging to groups designated as visible minorities, the employment rate declined by a similar amount in January (-1.6 percentage points to 79.8%) as for those who are not a visible minority and not Indigenous (-1.5 percentage points to 84.6%) (not seasonally adjusted).