Canada's economy shed almost 20,000 jobs in April as a small uptick in full-time work was more than offset by a large drop in part-time jobs.
Statistics Canada also reported Friday that the unemployment rate stayed steady at 6.8%
The loss of 19,700 jobs was worse than the 5,000 that a consensus of economists was expecting, according to Bloomberg.
The economy dumped more than 66,000 part-time jobs during the month. That more than offset a gain of 44,000 full-time jobs.
Major retails chains Target and Future Shop closed their doors during the month, and a large number of those positions would have been of the part-time variety. The trade sector, which includes retail jobs, lost more than 20,000 jobs during the month by itself.
The agency said that further that weak April jobs numbers followed a March in which the economy unexpectedly created more than 28,000 jobs.
Energy-rich Alberta added 12,500 net jobs last month — even though the province's natural resources sector lost 3,500 positions at a time of lower oil prices. The province's sector had 17,200 fewer jobs compared to a year ago, down 9.5%, but its unemployment rate stayed at 5.5%.
The data also showed that British Columbia lost 28,700 net jobs last month and saw its unemployment rate rise to 6.3%, up from 5.8% the month before.
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