Employment rate edges up in March

Toronto, Ont. – After two months of large gains, employment edged up again in March (+15,000), according to Statistics Canada.

A surge of entrants into the labour market caused the unemployment rate to move up 0.2 percentage points to 6.0 per cent. Canada’s participation rate reached a new record high of 68.0 per cent in March.
Over the past 12 months, employment grew by an estimated 325,000 (+1.9 per cent).
Private sector employees led overall growth in the first quarter of 2008, following a strong year for the public sector in 2007.
Alberta and British Columbia were the only provinces with notable employment gains in March. These provinces also set new records, as British Columbia’s employment rate reached a high of 64.0 per cent, and Alberta’s participation rate hit 74.7 per cent, the highest of any province.