Canada: Employment continues to improve in March - TD Bank Financial Group

According to ActionForex, analysts at TD Bank Financial Group note that the Canadian labour market added 303k jobs in March, well above consensus estimates that called for a 100k gain. 

"Last month’s improvement left employment 1.5% below the February 2020 level. The majority of the gains in March were in full-time work (+175k), but part-time growth was also impressive (+128k)."

"Like employment, Canada’s labour force also grew in March, increasing by 155k. Given the larger rise in employment, the unemployment rate declined to 7.5% from 8.2% in February."

"The services sector drove the gains in the month, adding 260k jobs."

"Provincially, employment increased in seven provinces. Ontario led the improvement with employment rising 182k in March. This was followed by Alberta (+37k), B.C.(+35k), and Quebec (+26k)."

"Helped by recent decisions to ease COVID-19 related restrictions, the Canadian labour market followed up a strong February with another extraordinary showing in March. While this brought employment even closer to its pre-pandemic level, the next couple of months could prove challenging for Canada’s labour market."