A new analysis by the Central One Credit Union doesn’t paint a positive picture of the labour market in the Thompson Okanagan.
Deputy Chief Economist Brian Yu says, employment fell 4.2 per cent, or 11,070 persons over the latest three-month period, compared to 2017.
“We have been trending roughly about a drop off of one per cent per month since about December. We’re looking over the last year right now looking at about ten thousand fewer jobs or employed numbers in the Thompson Okanagan. Given the size of the region, that’s quite a large drop off. That being said though, its somewhat difficult to figure out what was driving this.”
Yu says, however, the unemployment rate declined to 5.8 per cent owing largely to a sharp decline in the participation rate.