As hard as it is to land a job in B.C., Western Canadians are among the least discouraged when it comes to looking for work.
According to Statistics Canada’s July Labour Force Survey, only 3,200 B.C. residents were classified as discouraged workers: people who were no longer considered in the labour force, because they stopped looking for work believing “no suitable work was available.”
The number of discouraged workers in B.C. dipped from the year-to-date high of 5,000 in June but has ranged to a 2013 low of fewer than 1,500 in February.
Overall in July, only 5.6% of the 57,000 B.C. residents not in the labour force but wanting work were discouraged.
That was below the national average of under 8% and just above the 4.3% in Alberta.
These numbers remain comparatively low by U.S. standards. According to July employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics, nearly 15% of jobless Americans were classified as discouraged workers: people who are not in the labour force who still want a job but have stopped looking in the past month because they think they “could not find work, lack the schooling or training … [or] feel other types of discrimination.” That percentage has risen from 12.5% in July 2012, even though the U.S. economy has been improving over the past three quarters.
Despite the relatively low number of discouraged workers in Canada, the global financial crisis appears to have affected the psyche of B.C. jobseekers. Since 2009, the average number of discouraged workers has doubled to what it was prior to the Great Recession.
Nevertheless, the majority of jobless in B.C. cite personal reasons for not looking for work in July. About 20% said illness forced them to stop their job search, while another 20% cited personal and family responsibilities. One in 10 said they were in school (although that number will traditionally rise during the school year given that the data includes potential workers aged 15 to 24).
On an encouraging note, 5% said they were waiting to be called to work or hear from a potential employer. •
