Economy sheds 61,300 in March as job losses rival early ‘80s recession

OTTAWA — Canada is shedding jobs at a rate not seen since the deep recession of the early 1980s, as March saw another 61,300 workers join the ballooning ranks of the unemployed.

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The loss brought Canada's official unemployment rate to eight per cent, the worst in seven years. Statistics Canada noted that since the peak in October, employment has fallen each month for a total of 357,000 jobs lost, representing 2.1 per cent of the workforce. That is the most since 1982. More...

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