Windsor’s unemployment rate improved in April

The Welcome to Windsor sign on Riverside Drive in Windsor, Ont., on Sunday, May 3, 2020. (Melanie Borrelli / CTV Windsor)

The unemployment rate in the Windsor area improved in April.

The jobless rate moved to 8.1 per cent last month after sitting at 8.5 per cent in March.

Overall, Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday showed a slight drop of 18,000 jobs across Canada in April.

The agency says that despite an uptick in March, the country has posted a net decline of 112,000 jobs over the first four months of this year.

The last time Canada lost so many jobs in a four-month window was during the pandemic.

The unemployment rate rose to 6.9 per cent, from 6.7 per cent in March, returning to where it was back in October of last year, largely because more people were looking for work.

Ontario added 42,000 jobs in April, largely in healthcare and social assistance, but that was offset by a 43,000-job loss in Quebec led by the wholesale and retail trade and manufacturing sectors.

Statistics Canada also reported average hourly wages were up 4.5 per cent from this time a year ago.

London and Barrie have the highest unemployment rates in Canada, at 9.2 per cent.

With files from the Canadian Press