Statistics Canada released its latest labour market survey Friday and the report contains some sobering numbers for New Brunswick.
The province’s unemployment rate sits at 9.9 per cent, which is up 0.6 per cent from the previous month, meaning 5,700 fewer people were working in February.
Some in New Brunswick are wondering if there are jobs available in the province and if people are being trained for the right jobs.
READ MORE: PotashCorp mine closure has Sussex residents fearing worst about economy
David Campbell, chief economist at the New Brunswick Jobs Bank, says he is concerned to see how far the numbers have fallen in the last year and that there are thousands of jobs available that can’t be filled.
“We have lots of jobs in manufacturing and natural resources processing and things like that,” he said. “We have lots of firms claiming that they can’t find workers even as we have a relatively high unemployment rate.”
Campbell says it’s a challenge of skills alignment that has to be solved, and that the labour market is dysfunctional.
“You can’t expect university graduates to go crack lobsters or work in in a chicken-processing facility,” he said. “We do have to make sure that we have enough workers at all levels of the workforce.”
Mindy Stoltz, the New Brunswick manager of Manpower, a national employment placing agency, says she agrees there is demand for jobs in certain areas, but she is also seeing people turning down work.
- How caregiving impacts a generation of Canadians: ‘Unpaid work does not end’
- Thousands of Canada’s rail workers have a strike mandate. What happens now?
- Bird flu: Experts urge more surveillance in Canada — before it’s too late
- Can the Bank of Canada cut rates before the U.S.? What Macklem, economists say
READ MORE: Hundreds line up for opportunities at J.D. Irving job fair in Sussex
“They’re already getting some type of supplemental income, which they find is actually more beneficial to them for maybe taking a job for maybe a short term or temporary time and usually the pay rate,” she said.
Adding to the issue is an increase of people in need, even when there are jobs to be had.
The Romero House soup kitchen served a record 69 thousand meals last year, according to director Evelyn McNulty.
“A lot of people are discouraged, they were on unemployment, their unemployment has run out and so now they’re switching to the social services system,” she said.
Comments