The employment picture in BC continues to hold steady.
According to Stats Canada’s August Labour Force Survey, our province’s unemployment rate came in at 4.8% – the second-lowest among all the provinces trailing only Quebec, which has a mark of 4.5.
Analyst Vince Ferrao spoke with MyNechakoValleyNow.com.
“The 4.8% represents about 137,000 people unemployed. A year ago, we had 176,000 unemployed British Columbians.”
Nationally, for the first time in seven months, Canada’s jobless mark went up to 5.4% in August after it was 4.9 in July.
Our country’s economy lost about 40 thousand jobs.
In nearby Prince George, the jobless rate came in at 5.1% last month, a sizeable drop from July when it was 5.8.
“Specifically, the unemployment rate of 5.1 represents about 3,000 unemployed people. A year ago, there were slightly more at 3,700,” added Ferrao.
Here is the breakdown by province:
- Quebec 4.5%
- British Columbia 4.8%
- Saskatchewan 4.9%
- British Columbia 4.7%
- Manitoba 5.3%
- Alberta 5.4%
- Ontario 5.7%
- Prince Edward Island 7.3%
- New Brunswick/Nova Scotia 7.6%
- Newfoundland and Labrador 10.5%