Unemployment in B.C.'s northeast rose for the fourth consecutive month in December, to a 20-month high of 7.6%.
It's the highest rate the region has seen since May 2014, when it also recorded a 7.6% unemployment rate. Province-wide, the rate sits at 6%, while national unemployment is 7.1%.
Unemployment has been rising steadily in the Peace and Fort Nelson areas with the downturn in oil and gas prices. Year to year, employment in the B.C. forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying and oil and gas sectors fell 3.4%, from 50,000 employees to 48,300 (B.C. does not report oil and gas employment as its own category).
In the five-month period from Oct. 2014 to Feb. 2015, northeast unemployment was too low to report. The government does not reveal the rate when fewer than 1,500 people are unemployed, for confidentiality reasons.
The rate climbed to 4.2%, increasing for five months to 6.4%, before dropping to 5.5% in both August and September. Unemployment has since grown steadily.
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