While New Brunswick added 400 jobs last month, many were part-time positions. In total, 1,000 full-time positions were lost and 1,400 part-time ones were created, bringing the unemployment rate up 8.9 percent to 9.2 percent in March, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.
The employment picture varied from city to city. Saint John’s unemployment rate dropped from 12.2 to 10.9 between February and March. Employment rose by 200 to a total of 62,800 employed.
In Moncton, unemployment rose from 8.1 to 8.5 percent between February and March. Employment rose by 300 to a total of 80,500 employed.
In the central region of the province that includes Fredericton, the unemployment rate rose from 7.0 to 7.5. Employment dropped by 700 to a total of 68,800. This region’s numbers do not account for seasonal employment.
Employment in the goods-producing sector saw an increase of 0.9 percent while the services-producing sector saw a decrease of 0.1 percent. Compared to March 2020, agriculture is the hardest hit industry with a 26.2 percent decrease compared to March 2020.
Natural resources and the information, culture, and recreation sectors also see a large decrease compared to last year when the pandemic began, decreasing 15.9 percent and 14.2 percent respectively.
Some industries have also seen significant growth since the pandemic began affecting the province a year ago. Compared to March 2020, the educational services industry has grown 19.8 percent.
Across the country, the number of workers who worked from locations other than home declined by 200,000 in March. 2.9 million of the 5 million Canadians working from home in March were doing so as a temporary response to Covid-19.
In Canada, the unemployment rate declined to 7.5 percent, which is the lowest since February 2020 when the rate was 5.7 percent.
Liam Floyd is a reporter for Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
