PG unemployment rate rises nearly three points in October to 5.5%

Prince George’s unemployment rate more than doubled in October according to Stats Canada.

The jobless mark went from 2.7 percent in September to have 5.5 last month – however, on a year-over-year basis, we have seen a decline of nearly four points (9.2%).

As for the number of people working, Labour Division Analyst, Julian Alvarez told MyPGNow.com that number experienced a surge over the past 12 months.

“There were about 55,000 people employed in Prince George. This meant 5,200 increase when compared to last year. As we have been seeing, most of these increase in employment was on full-time employments. Out of the 5,200, 4,500 were full-time jobs.”

B.C.’s unemployment rate checked in at 6.3% – another small dip from September (6.4%) ranking fifth among the provinces.

In Canada, the jobless mark rose slightly to 6.7 percent after it was 6.5 a month earlier.

Here is a breakdown of all the provinces:

• Manitoba – 5.0 per cent
• Quebec– 5.7 per cent
• Saskatchewan– 5.9 per cent
• Nova Scotia – 6.2 per cent
• BC – 6.3 per cent
• Alberta/Ontario – 7.3 per cent
• New Brunswick/Prince Edward Island – 7.4 per cent
• Newfoundland and Labrador – 8.7 per cent