B.C. added 34,000 jobs in October, after increasing employment in the previous five months as the economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest figures from Statistics Canada.

The federal agencyB次元官网网址檚 has recorded job growth for B.C. of over six months, bringing overall employment back to near February levels. While forest, mining and large-scale construction have kept employment strong in B.C.B次元官网网址檚 rural regions, urban areas and businesses hit by travel restrictions still see little or no relief in sight.

The latest results are better than expected for industries that escaped most of the pandemic effects, said Ken Peacock, chief economist for the Business Council of B.C. That includes strong growth in professional, scientific and computer services, as well as industries outside B.C.B次元官网网址檚 main metropolitan areas of Metro Vancouver, Victoria, Abbotsford and Kelowna.

B次元官网网址淲hen you add up what I would call limited impact sectors, government, public administration and health care, but also manufacturing and forestry and mining, the resource sectors have held up well,B次元官网网址� Peacock said in an interview with Black Press Media Nov. 6. B次元官网网址淎griculture was another strong spot in the most recent job market report. Employment in those industries is actually up five per cent since February.B次元官网网址�

When the four major urban areas are taken out of the provincial numbers, the rest of the province shows an employment increase of almost three per cent compared to the pre-pandemic conditions of February, where the provinceB次元官网网址檚 economy was leading the country and the B.C. government was still looking at surpluses. The census metropolitan areas of Kelowna, Abbotsford and Victoria are still down 2.5 to five per cent, due mainly to their concentration of consumer services like accommodation and food services, Peacock said. The effects are felt most in Metro Vancouver, where 100,000 jobs havenB次元官网网址檛 come back.

B次元官网网址淏asically, weB次元官网网址檙e in a world when all the job losses now are concentrated in Metro Vancouver,B次元官网网址� he said.

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Another major driver of employment for rural B.C. comes from its major projects that have carried on through the pandemic, LNG Canada, the Coastal GasLink and Trans Mountain pipelines and the Site C dam in northeast B.C.

Premier John Horgan greeted the latest employment figures with enthusiasm, noting that B.C.B次元官网网址檚 unemployment rate falling to eight per cent for October puts it well below the national average.

B次元官网网址淭his is the sixth consecutive month where we have seen significant job creation in B.C., bringing total employment to 97.6 per cent of our pre-pandemic levels in February,B次元官网网址� Horgan said in a statement. B次元官网网址淗owever, the numbers, while welcome, do not fully reflect the continuing serious hardship in some sectors of the economy. We know there is much more to do as some businesses are still struggling.B次元官网网址�

tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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