Manufacturing across Canada shed 31,000 jobs in April, and Statistics Canada blames American tariffs.
Employment in wholesale and retail trade also took a big hit as that sector eliminated 27,000 jobs last month.
In Windsor, the unemployment rate jumped to 10.7 per cent, up from 9.3 per cent in March. About 4,600 people joined the ranks of the jobless, boosting the number of those looking for work to 28,600 in the city.
Despite the jump, Windsor did not have the highest jobless rate last month. That dubious honour went to Peterborough with its unemployment rate of 10.8 per cent.
This month's Labour Force Survey highlighted Windsor's plight. It said the auto industry accounts for 43.1 per cent of manufacturing jobs in the region, and 9.2 per cent of total employment.
Windsor's labour force shrank last month, down 0.8 percentage points to 266,400, while the labour participation rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 65.1 per cent.
Across Canada, employment didn't change much from March. The national economy lost 7,400 jobs, not enough to change Canada's employment rate from 60.8 per cent.
Unemployment nationwide climbed 0.2 per cent to 6.9 per cent, a return to levels seen last November when joblessness hit the highest level since January 2017, excluding the pandemic years.
While employment in manufacturing took a hit in the trade war, employment in public administration ticked upwards by 37,000 positions thanks in part to the hiring of temporary workers to staff the federal election.
Employment in finance, insurance, real estate, and rental and leasing climbed by 24,000 positions.
Employment for core-aged women fell by 35,000 positions, but rose for those over 55 and core-aged men.
Using American concepts, the Canadian jobless rate in April was 5.8 per cent compared to 4.2 per cent in the U.S. Historically, the U.S. has higher employment, but the report Friday morning said that while 79.6 per cent of Canadian women aged 25 to 54 were working. In the United States, 75 per cent of those women had a job.
Ontario lost 35,000 jobs after losing 28,000 in March. The unemployment rate ticked upwards 0.3 percentage points to 7.8 per cent.
Total hours worked rose 0.4 per cent in April, up 0.9 per cent compared to a year ago.
Average hourly wages rose $1.20 to $36.13, an increase of 3.4 per cent.