Canada’s unemployment rate hits 8 percent

Canada’s unemployment rate hit 8 percent as the country lost 61,000 full-time jobs in March, the Statistics Canada agency reported Thursday.

Since October, the unemployment rate has increased every month with a total of 357,000 jobs lost, the largest employment decline over a five-month period since the 1982 recession, StatsCan said.

Losses were reported in manufacturing; finance, insurance, real estate and leasing; construction; and natural resources

Employment in manufacturing fell by 34,000 in March, for a total of 134,000 since October. Construction employment also declined by 18,000 up to 99,000 since October.

For the second month in a row, employment in natural resources declined, down 11,000 in March. This was led by losses in Alberta, mostly in mining, oil and gas extraction, the agency said.

By province, British Columbia lost 23,000 jobs followed by Alberta with 15,000 and Ontario with 11,000 losses.