By Canadian Press

NewsAlert: Statistics Canada says nearly two million jobs lost in April

May 8, 2020 | 6:38 AM

OTTAWA — The Canadian economy lost almost two million jobs in April, a record high, as the closure of non-essential services to slow the spread of COVID-19 devastated the economy and forced businesses to shutter temporarily.

The loss of 1,993,800 comes on top of more than one million jobs lost in March.

Statistics Canada says the unemployment rate soared to 13.0 per cent as the full force of the pandemic hit compared with 7.8 per cent in March.

It was the second highest unemployment rate on record.

Economists on average had expected the loss of four million jobs and an unemployment rate of 18 per cent, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.

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