After 24 straight months of having the lowest unemployment in the country, British Columbia was bumped to second place.

BC jumped from 4.6% to an even 5% while Quebec fell slightly to 4.7% giving them the number one spot.

One reason for the rise is closures and curtailments in the forestry sector.

Minister of Jobs, Trade and Technology, Bruce Ralston was on the NL Morning News and he pointed out just how important the industry is to the province. “Natural resources and the forest industry continue to be the backbone of British Columbia and we will fight for every forest job that we can and we will assist communities as they transition to new economic opportunities.”

Ralston said there was marked growth in education services, saying “The Ministry of Education in the public school system has hired four thousand new teachers in addition to those already employed.”

As far as our area goes, “Locally in Kamloops the unemployment rate year over year is down one-point-two percent over the same time last year which is good and in the broader region, again down one-point-five percent over the same time last year.”