British Columbia is one of five provinces to see an overall decline in employment for November, down 14,000 jobs from the previous month, according to Statistics Canada.
The decrease of 0.5 per cent was driven by losses in part-time work, according to Friday’s labour force survey. The province’s unemployment, however, remains virtually unchanged at 4.4 per cent.
Alberta, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador also saw a decline in employment last month.
Nationwide, the unemployment rate declined by less than one per cent in November, settling on 5.1 per cent. Comparatively, that makes B.C. a “leader in the country,” B.C. Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon told CKNW’s Mornings with Simi on Friday.
“We continue to see the strength in our economy and outpacing the rest of the country,” he said. “We did see a small decline in jobs this month … but we continue to see positive things across the economy.”
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Statistics Canada noted that construction jobs dropped 3.8 per cent in B.C. last month. Unemployment for women over 25, however, dropped by a little of five per cent from October to November.
Kahlon said B.C.’s loss in part-time work reflects the impact of the Bank of Canada’s interest rate hikes to fight global inflation.
According to the Ministry of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation, however, there were at least 5,500 new private sector jobs in B.C. last month, and as many as 105,000 more people are working in the province than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re going to have to continue to make those investments to support people in any challenge that may come up,” the minister said. “Overall, pretty flat numbers from last month.”
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