According to the Globe and Mail, Canadian employment plummeted in January and work absences due to illness soared to record levels as the Omicron variant drove a steep uptick in COVID-19 infections.
The country lost 200,000 jobs last month, the first decline in employment since May, Statistics Canada said on Friday. The unemployment rate rose to 6.5 per cent from 6 per cent. The job losses were about twice financial analysts’ median estimate of 110,000 positions.
But the fallout was not limited to layoffs. During the week of Jan. 9 to 15, roughly 1.6 million people were employed but worked less than half their usual hours, an increase of 620,000 from December.