Canada’s economy unexpectedly lost a net of 83,900 jobs in February, while the unemployment rate rose to 6.7 per cent as jobs losses occurred across both services and goods sector, Statistics Canada data showed on Friday.

A dip in the number of jobs this high was last observed almost 17 years ago if the months of lockdown during the pandemic are excluded, Statscan said.

The result missed analysts’ expectations of a job gain of 10,000 and an unemployment rate of 6.6 per cent. In the previous month, the economy lost 24,800 jobs and the jobless rate was down to a 16-month low of 6.5 per cent.

Canada’s labor market has failed to add any substantial jobs in the last few months as economic growth sputtered owing to a range of tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump across critical sectors such as steel, autos, lumber and copper.