were the worst seen since last April, sending the unemployment rate up 0.6 percentage points to 9.4 per cent, the highest rate since August.
Steep declines in part-time work, particularly among teenagers, and in service-industry jobs, including retail, overshadowed small upticks in full-time workers and in goods-producing sectors. Since last year, women have dropped out of the labour force faster than men to take care of their children, on top of being over-represented in industries targeted by increased restrictions, said Kaylie Tiessen, an economist and policy analyst for Unifor.
"A lot of those jobs in retail, and food and accommodation are not coming back," Skuterud said. "We're certainly not going back to where we would have been...if the pandemic had never happened." "The government says it's working on it for the budget, but if is just focused on more money for consumption, I think it will miss the mark."