By MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, May 8 (MarketsFarm) – The following is a glance at the news moving markets in Canada and globally.
– Statistics Canada reported on Friday that Canada’s unemployment rate jumped to 13.0 per cent in April from 7.8 per cent in March. The Labour Force Survey said almost two million jobs were lost in April alone due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Job losses were more than three million people with another 2.5 million working fewer hours. The last time unemployment levels were this high in Canada was in December 1982 at 13.1 per cent.
– There is also a grim picture of unemployment in the United States as 20.5 million jobs were lost in April due to the pandemic. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Friday that the country’s unemployment hit 14.7 per cent, marking the highest level since the Great Depression. The leisure and hospitality sector was the hardest hit with 7.7 million jobs lost, of which more than 70 per cent of those positions were in restaurants and bars. The manufacturing sector fared better with 1.3 million jobs lost and the construction industry lost less than one million.
– Today marks the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day. On May 8, 1945, Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allies and the Soviet Union in a ceremony in Berlin, ending nearly six years of war in Europe. Major celebrations around the world were curtailed by the pandemic. Canada’s contribution was enormous for a country of about 11.3 million people. About one million Canadians served in the military, of which approximately 43,000 were killed and tens of thousands more wounded. The global conflict, which didn’t end until was the bloodiest in world history with upwards to 80 million civilians and military personnel killed as several countries were laid to waste.
