OTTAWA, April 9 — Canada’s unemployment rate fell to the lowest on record in March as job gains continued throughout the economy, Statistics Canada announced yesterday.

The jobless rate fell to 5.3 per cent, two-tenths lower than the prior month, and "the lowest rate on record since comparable data became available in 1976,” the report said.

"With the exception of an increase in January 2022, the unemployment rate has fallen consistently in recent months,” the agency said.

The decline came as the economy added 73,000 jobs last month, a 0.4 per cent increase driven by gains among women over 55 years old, and "core aged” men 25 to 54, according to the report.

"The decline in the jobless rate was more pronounced than expected,” said Royce Mendes, analyst at Desjardins.

While the job gains slowed from the 337,000 created in February, the increase in employment comes amid the continued easing of Covid-19 restrictions which allows the return to in-person work.

Average hourly wages increased 3.4 per cent compared to March 2021.

Employment increased in both services and goods sectors, notably in agriculture, which saw its first increase since the end of 2020.

The number of workers in the accommodation and food services sector continued to grow, but remained below the pre-pandemic level in most provinces.

"The solid pace of hiring reinforces our view that the Bank of Canada will act forcefully next week to quell inflationary pressures by both hiking rates 50bps and initiating its quantitative tightening programme,” Mendes said.

The central bank raised its key policy rate by a quarter point to 0.5 per cent in March to counter the highest inflation in 30 years. — AFP