Statistics Canada reported on Friday that the number of employed people decreased by 207,100 m-o-m in April (or -1.1 percent m-o-m) after an unrevised gain of 303,100 m-o-m in the previous month. This was the largest decrease in Canada’s employment since January and reflected the tightening of public health measures in several provinces in late March and early April.

Economists had forecast a decline of 175,000 m-o-m.

Meanwhile, Canada's unemployment rate rose to 8.1 percent in April from 7.5 percent in March, exceeding economists’ forecast for 7.8 percent. The April increase in rate was driven by gains in the number of people searching for work (+67,000; +4.9 percent m-o-m) and those on temporary layoff (+57,000; +37.6 percent m-o-m).

According to the report, full-time employment decreased 129,400 (or -0.8 percent m-o-m) in April, while part-time jobs fell by 77,800 (or -2.3 percent m-o-m).

In April, the number of public sector employees declined by 13,200 (or -0.3 percent m-o-m), and the number of private sector employees plunged by 203,700 (or -1.7 percent m-o-m). Meanwhile, the number of self-employed increased 9,700 (or +0.4 percent m-o-m) last month.

Sector-wise, employment dropped both in goods-producing (-0.3 percent m-o-m) and service-producing (-1.3 percent m-o-m) businesses.