Nearly one out of every 20 oil, gas and mining jobs in Canada disappeared over the past year, according to new survey data from Statistics Canada.
The sector shed about 10,400 jobs — or 4.5 per cent of the total — in the 12 months to March, StatsCan’s survey of payroll employment, earnings and hours shows. Of those job losses, 2,100 came in March alone, as oil prices bottomed out.
Retail is another area where looking for work could be particularly challenging right now. The largest sector of Canada’s economy by employment, retail shed 6,000 jobs over the past year, or 0.3 per cent of the total. Those numbers were likely dragged down by the rapid departure of Target Canada in the early months of this year.
March looks to have been a brutal month for jobs overall, with the survey showing 19,000 jobs lost across the country in the month.
But the news on the jobs front isn’t all bad. The number of jobs in Canada is still up by one per cent over the past year, just about keeping up with population growth.
And many parts of the economy have shown solid job growth over the past year. Leading the way are health care and social assistance jobs; accommodation and food service jobs; and professional, scientific and technical services jobs.
Here are the best sectors of Canada’s economy for job creation over the past year — and the worst.
