The B.C. unemployment rate edged down 1.1 percentage points to 6.9 per cent in February, but remains above the pre-COVID rate of 5.1 per cent.
Across Canada, the economy added 259,000 jobs with 27,000 jobs being added in the province. Stats Canada says the province’s employment increase last month was mainly in part-time work and in retail trade and educational services.
Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon says the province’s economy remains one of the strongest in Canada.
“And that means it is 10 straight months of job growth and so that’s positive. We saw in these numbers that just came today that the majority of the new jobs that we’ve brought on have been from women as well because we that gap has existed and it is starting to close and that’s positive. It means the approach that we’ve taken to economic recovery, it’s working.”
The Kamloops area has been even more resilient with employment levels being above where we were when the pandemic was first declared.
“There’s a couple things. First, part of the recovery plan we put a lot of dollars into targeting rural communities, and in Kamloops, because of all the communities around you is seeing that benefit,” Kahlon said.
“Second, people are following the rules and keeping themselves safe and the numbers [of new COVID-19 cases] continue to be fairly low which is very positive. And I look through some of the numbers and you see housing doing really well and new business licenses being issued at record levels. So it is juts positive for Kamloops and Prince George and the Cariboo region as well.”
Kahlon says the numbers are likely to flatten in the months ahead.
“When you’re already close to 100 per cent of where you were there is not going to be a lot much more movement for jobs to shoot up. I think it is going to depend on once the vaccines rolled out. Once that’s happened and we start seeing more of the economy opening up, that’s when we’re going to see I think, a really strong surge in employment.”
Nationwide, unemployment is now at its lowest level since March, 2020. The national jobless rate fell to 8.2 per cent last month.
