After shedding 15,000 jobs in March, B.C. showed gains in employment in April, Statistics Canada reported today.
B.C. gained 9,500 jobs between March and April, and the province's unemployment rate declined from 7 to 6.4 percentage points. The number of full-time jobs was up, while part-time work decreased.
Most of the job gains nationally were in the public sector, with 34,000 more people working for various levels of government in April compared to March. The number of self-employed people also grew, while private-sector jobs stayed about the same.
B.C.'s Liberal and NDP parties pounced on the numbers with competing press releases sent out Friday morning.
"Premier Christy Clark and Today's BC Liberals have a clear plan for controlling spending and growing the economy – and it is working," Finance Minister Mike de Jong was quoted as saying.
But the NDP blamed the fact that most of the new jobs created were in the public sector squarely on Premier Clark's jobs plan.
"That is the worst record for private-sector job creation in Canada," said the NDP release.
Alberta added 15,000 jobs, while employment dropped in Manitoba and New Brunswick. Canada's unemployment rate in April stood unchanged at 7.2%.
