Employment in British Columbia accelerated in January, rising by 0.8 per cent from December.

This followed a monthly increase in December and translated to 23,400 more people working.

The positive momentum in the provincial labour market brought year-over-year hiring growth up by 1.4 per cent. That said, the pace of year-over-year employment growth in B.C. has eased since May 2024, and January’s increase was still below the national performance of two per cent. The unemployment rate edged up to six per cent from 5.9 per cent in December as labour force growth (0.9 per cent) outpaced gains in employment. The labour participation rate rose to 65.2 per cent from 64.7 per cent, along with a 0.2-per-cent increase in the province’s population.

Both part-time and full-time employment reported monthly increases in January. Full-time employment grew by 0.9........

© BIV