The 4,100 Nova Scotians who lost their jobs last month can blame Rodney MacDonald, said Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil.
Nova Scotia is one of only two provinces to see the number of jobs decline last month compared to March.
At a campaign stop Friday in Dartmouth, McNeil said the governing Tories failed to act quickly to develop an economic stimulus package.
He said he urged MacDonald's Tories to act last October, but they waited until last week to table a budget.
"This is a direct result of this premier, this government's inaction. They sat by, waiting and trying to convince Nova Scotians that there was no problem. We were months away from the challenge," McNeil said.
The unemployment rate in the country held steady in April at eight per cent as overall employment grew by a surprising 35,900 jobs, according to Statistics Canada.
Economists had been projecting overall employment to drop by about 50,000 last month.
Statistics Canada said the rise in the number of people working was the result of an increase in self-employment, while there was little growth in public- and private-sector employment.
The employment growth in April occurred in Quebec and British Columbia. With the exception of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, where employment dropped, the other provinces saw little change.
