In April, Canada added 7,400 new job positions, and the unemployment rate rose to 6.9%.

Canada's employment growth was weak last month, leading to a surge in the unemployment rate, returning to the level of November last year, also the highest since January 2017, except during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data released by Statistics Canada on Friday showed that the number of employed people increased by only 7,400 in April, and the unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage points to reach 6.9%. The increase in employment was similar to the median forecast obtained from the survey of economists, but the economists predicted a smaller increase in the unemployment rate. This is the third consecutive month that Canada has seen a stagnation or reduction in employment growth, highlighting the trend of slowing down recruitment or layoffs by companies against the backdrop of trade uncertainty. April also marked the first time that the impact of tariffs on export-dependent industries became more apparent.