HEAD:
DATA POINTS
Bryan Yu

While the national labour market picture firmed in October with a surprise employment pop and retreat in the unemployment rate, B.C.’s labour market deteriorated. B.C. employment nudged down by 0.1 per cent (2,900 persons) to limit year-over-year growth to 1.2 per cent which was below the national performance of 1.4 per cent. The unemployment rate rose from 6.4 per cent from 6.6 per cent but remained below the national average of 6.9 per cent. The provincial labour force expanded 0.1 per cent or 2,300 persons and the participation rate was unchanged at 64.9 per cent in October. The working-age population also saw no changes during the month. Full-time employment was little changed but part-time employment dropped by 0.5 per cent (-3,200 persons).

Month-to-month employment numbers tend to fluctuate but the overall trend points to persistent softness in B.C.’s labour market as economic and trade uncertainty, as well as the soft real estate market, weighing on hiring. The Vancouver Census........

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