The size of B.C.’s workforce remained mostly flat in June compared with the month before as the rest of Canada lost 9,400 jobs.
The unemployment rate on the West Coast rose from 6.1% to 6.2%, Statistics Canada reported July 11. The total jobs lost in B.C. between May and June fall within the statistical margin of error.
Meanwhile, Canada’s overall unemployment rate rose to 7.1% in June compared with 7% the month prior.
Canada’s employment increased 0.4% year-over-year — the lowest growth rate since February 2010, when the country was just beginning to climb out of the recession.
“The Canadian job market remains mired deep in a mid-cycle funk, with precious little employment growth over the past year,” BMO chief economist Douglas Porter said in a note to clients.
He pointed out Canada added 33,500 full-time jobs, while part-time jobs and positions held by youths aged 15-24 dropped 43,000.
Peter Harris, chief editor of online job site Workopolis, said there has been increased competition for the types of jobs young people would usually apply for.
“Less people are retiring and therefore people aren’t moving up,” he said.
“At the entry-level and where young people would start their careers, there are just fewer opportunities to land those jobs, which is why youth unemployment has been one of the biggest issues since the recession.”
Harris added B.C.’s hospitality sector is “booming” as Workopolis job postings in that industry have risen 54% over the past year.
