The Labour Force Survey released Thursday shows the number of employed people dropped by 25,000 in March, or 5.5 per cent, compared to the month before. The employment rate — the proportion of the population 15 and older who were employed — also fell to 53.2 per cent in March. The employment rate fell 3.3 percentage points to 58.5 per cent, the lowest rate since 1997. "It was predictable," Jordi Morgan, Atlantic vice-president for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said Friday about the numbers. The province's $2.1-billion food-service industry represents 4.6 per cent of the province's GDP.

Source: CBC News April 10, 2020 21:00 UTC