February employment gains in B.C. were among the largest contributors to reduced unemployment in Canada, according to Statistics Canada data released Friday.
B.C.'s unemployment rate fell to 7.7% in February from 8.1% because of a net increase of 10,000 jobs in B.C. during the month of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
Full-time employment rose 1.9%, or by 33,000, offsetting a 4.5% decline (23,200) in part-time jobs.
Nationally, the employment rate fell 0.1% to 8.2% as employment rose by 21,000 with full-time job gains offsetting part-time job losses.
Men aged 55 and over accounted for all of February's employment gains with the largest increases coming from the public sector with 46,000 new jobs. Other sectors reporting increases included: accommodation and food services (+27,000), business, building and other support services (+18,000), manufacturing (+17,000), health care and social assistance (+16,000) and natural resources (+11,000).
These gains offset losses in retail and wholesale trade (-34,000), finance, insurance, real estate and leasing (-22,000) and other services (-13,000).
The only two provinces to report employment losses were Manitoba (-1,100) and Alberta (-14,800). Manitoba's losses were primarily in part-time jobs, whereas Alberta's were almost all full-time positions.