PG’s unemployment rate reaches lowest point prior to the pandemic

What a difference a year makes.

The employment picture in Prince George has turned around nicely going from a jobless mark of 6.4% in February of 2021 to 3.2% last month – its lowest benchmark prior to COVID-19.

Furthermore, the unemployment rate dropped by nearly half a point when compared to January after it was 3.6%

Stats Canada Labour Division Analyst Vince Ferrao spoke to MyPGNow.com and stated the larger volume of people working backs this up.

“For February, there were 54,200 people working and compares with a little bit less in January when there were 53,900 people employed.”

BC has the 4th lowest jobless mark in the country at 4.9% – down slightly from the 5.1 mark in January.

“Over the past month, employment is up about 21-thousand, and over the past year it has spiked by 98-thousand,” stated Ferrao.

Nationwide, over 335-thousand new jobs were created bringing down the unemployment rate to 5.5% – a drop of a full point from the month prior.

Here is the breakdown by province:

• Quebec 4.5%
• Saskatchewan 4.7%
• Manitoba 4.8%
• British Columbia 4.9%
• Ontario 5.5%
• Nova Scotia 6.6%
• Alberta 6.8%
• New Brunswick 7.9%
• Prince Edward Island 9.0%
• Newfoundland and Labrador 12.3%