WASHINGTON: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.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.
