Greater Victoria leading Canada with powerful employment stats
Greater Victoria’s unemployment rate of 3.3 per cent in November was the lowest among Canada’s major cities. It was the second consecutive month to lead the pack after the region’s 3.8 per cent rate in October.
Statistics Canada’s labour force report released Friday said Greater Victoria’s full-time and part-time employment rolls showed increases in November compared to the same month in 2016.
The capital region had 148,300 people working full-time last month, up from 144,300, said Statistics Canada analyst Gordon Song. Part-time numbers rose to 46,000 from 43,500 the previous year, he added.
Increases in employment numbers were seen in wholesale and retail trade, which rose to 26,000 in November from 22,900 in the same month last year, Song said.
Health services and social assistance climbed to 30,000 employed last month from 26,400 in Nov. 2016.
Accommodation and food services rose to 16,900 from 13,700 year-over-year, Song said.
And a broad category of “other” services moved up to 10,100 from 6,200 last November.
Losses were seen in the business, building and other support services sector which had 7,000 people employed last month, down from 10,400 in November 2016, Song said. Manufacturing dropped to 7,100 from 7,800 the previous year.
B.C.’s overall unemployment rate of 4.8 per cent is the lowest among the provinces, Statistics Canada said.
“In British Columbia, 18,000 more people were employed in November, bringing year-overyear gains to 92,000, up 3.8 per cent, mostly in full-time work,” the federal agency said.
Nationally, a wave of job creation last month knocked the national rate down to 5.9 per cent — its lowest level in nearly a decade.
Canada’s economy churned out another 79,500 net new jobs in November and drove the jobless rate down 0.4 percentage points from 6.3 per cent the month before, Statistics Canada said.
It also released fresh figures Friday for growth — they showed that the economy expanded at an annual pace of 1.7 per cent in the third quarter.
But the November jobs numbers stood out. The last time the unemployment rate was at 5.9 per cent was February 2008 at the start of the global financial crisis.
Economists had expected an increase of 10,000 jobs and the unemployment rate to come in at 6.2 per cent.
The increase also marked Canada’s 12th straight month of positive job creation as the country posted its best 12-month performance in 10 years. The last 12-month streak of positive job creation ended in March 2007.
The report said employment rose 2.1 per cent in the 12 months leading up to November as the economy added 390,000 net jobs — with all the gains driven by full-time work. The labour market added 441,400 full-time positions year-over-year for an increase of three per cent and its strongest 12-month period of full-time job creation in 18 years.
The numbers show Canada gained 29,600 full-time jobs and 49,900 part-time positions in November. The growth was concentrated in the private sector, which added 72,400 jobs last month, compared with an increase of 10,600 positions in the public sector.