Canada is seeing record-high unemployment rates, after millions of Canadians were laid off amid the pandemic.
According to Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate has reached 13.7%, which is the highest since 1982. In December of that year, Canadians were at a rate of 13.1%.
RELATED: Over Half Of Small Canadians Businesses Can’t Afford To Reopen in June
Due to the pandemic, Canadians lost three million jobs between March and April, while another 2.5 million Canadians had their hours slashed.
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But the number of people who worked less than half their usual hours saw a cut of 292,000 jobs in May.
Meanwhile, B.C.’s unemployment rate sat at 13.4% as of May, while April’s rate was 11.5%.
“Overall, we’ve seen job loss of more than 353,000 since the pandemic began,” said Finance Minister Carole James.
However, she also pointed out that B.C. has created 43,300 jobs as people return to work.
B.C. declared a State of Emergency in March, which meant many businesses shut their doors.
The government began to ease restrictions in May, which has meant many shops and restaurants have gotten back to business.
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