The unemployment rate in Prince George continued its downward trend in June.
“We have 3,000 people unemployed this June and a year ago we had 3,900 who were unemployed. The combination of these two numbers pushed the unemployment rate to its current rate of 5.9%,” says Vince Ferrao, labour division analyst with Statistics Canada.
That’s a huge drop from the June 2016 figure of 7.7%.
In BC, employment grew by 4.4% on a year-over-year basis and was a major contributor in bringing down the province’s jobless rate Ferrao says. “This pushed the unemployment rate down to 5.1%, a year ago it was 5.9%.”
The province also reclaimed the lowest unemployment rate in Canada.
British Columbia 5.1%
Manitoba 5.3%
Quebec 6.0%
Ontario 6.4%
On the flip side, the Maritimes and Atlantic Canada recorded the highest jobless numbers.
Newfoundland and Labrador 14.9%
Prince Edward Island 10.2%
Nova Scotia 8.8%
New Brunswick 8.1%
Canada’s unemployment rate ranked in the middle of the pack at 6.5%.
“That’s down from 12 months ago when it was 6.8%, looking at the number of people employed over the past 12 months employment has grown by 351,000 or 1.9%,” says Ferrao.
The Labour Force Survey for July will be released on August 4.
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