Windsor's unemployment rate increased by 2.4 percentage points from March to 12.9 per cent in April.
Statistics Canada's Labour Market Survey for April said another 13,400 residents lost their jobs last month. The Labour Participation Rate was 56.8 per cent, down 3.4 percentage points from March.
As expected, the report for April shows significant losses across the country. The national unemployment rate increased 5.2 percentage points to 13 per cent as the economy shed almost two million jobs, on top of the one-million positions that eliminated because of the COVID-19 pandemic in March.
The report says had the unemployment rate been adjusted to reflect those not counted as unemployed because of the pandemic, the rate would have been 17.8 per cent, a level that far exceeds past economic downturns. Over 1.4 million full-time and 522,000 part-time positions were lost last month alone.
By comparison, the 1981-1982 recession resulted in a decline of 612,000 jobs over 17 months.
The results are on the low end of what economists had expected. Many had predicted job losses would number between two million and 4.5-million.
Ontario's unemployment rate jumped from 7.6 per cent in March to 11.3 per cent just one month later. The province's labour participation rate fell from 63 per cent in March to 59.2 per cent.
The report blames physical distancing measures, the closure of businesses, and travel restrictions.
"The actions taken by various levels of government to protect public health amounted to an intentional shutdown of the economy," said the survey.
The survey, done between April 12 to April 18, was conducted after measures to prevent the spread of the virus had taken hold. The month before, those measures had not been fully implemented.
The data is based on interviews with more than 50,000 households and 100,000 individuals.