Canada loses 55,000 jobs in March; unemployment rate rises to 7.2 per cent

Canada lost 55,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate fell to 7.2 per cent, Statistics Canada said Friday.

The results were worse than economists expected, erasing the 51,000 job gain in employment in February, when the national unemployment rate held at 7.0 per cent.

"Hiring had been on a suspiciously strong trend in the last half year despite a tepid pace for economic output, so today’s report simply brings the two series into better line, rather than necessarily indicating a big negative for output ahead," said Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC World Markets.

StatsCan said the March unemployment picture includes "notable employment declines" in accommodation and food services, public administration and manufacturing.

Both the manufacturing and public administration sectors lost 24,000 jobs, and are down significantly from a year ago.

The private-sector lost 85,000 positions in March, which economists say is the results of decreasing profits and the general market volatility.

The number of self-employed people rose by 39,000 in March.

Among people aged 25 to 54, employment declined by 47,000, equally divided between men and women, StatsCan said

In the U.S., 88,000 jobs were created in March, less than half than expected, while the unemployment rate dropped a notch to 7.6 per cent from 7.7 per cent.