Unemployment rates drop again in Kelowna

The Greater Kelowna area is again seeing improvements in its unemployment rate.

Continuing a months-long trend, the region that spans the area between Lake Country and Peachland posted an unemployment rate of four per cent in June. That’s an improvement from 4.5 per cent in May and 5.3 per cent in April, 6.7 per cent in March and 7.1 per cent in February.

0:43 Canadian economy adds 40,000 jobs in May, unemployment dips to 5.1%

Statistics Canada also showed that the region added 2,000 jobs last month on top of 3,000 in May.

While unemployment is falling in the Okanagan, the province is seeing a slight shift in the other direction.

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The unemployment rate was up to 4.6 per cent in June up from 4.5 per cent in May, though it’s still an improvement from the 6.4 per cent unemployment rate from a year earlier.

B.C. also added another 6,100 jobs in June, according to the latest Statistics Canada release Friday, while the gain was 5,100 in May. The province lost 2,000 jobs in April.

The low unemployment rate, however, is contributing to a tight labour market in B.C., which the province’s NDP government acknowledged in a news release following the Statistics Canada report. The province is also struggling with the effects of inflation.

That said, Ravi Kahlon, minister of jobs, economic recovery and innovation, saw cause for optimism.

“B.C. has a strong, diversified economy and we are well-positioned to handle the challenges ahead. People see British Columbia as place of opportunity,” Kahlon said in a statement.

“That’s why we are seeing more people come to B.C. In the first-quarter (Q1) update for 2022, the net international migration for B.C. was 20,838 – the highest Q1 in more than 60 years.”

2:39 Rate of unemployment drops, but businesses still struggle with filling jobs

Statistics Canada said the country lost 43,000 jobs last month, but the unemployment rate fell to 4.9 per cent, the lowest level since comparable data started in 1976, and compared with 5.1 per cent in May.