Amidst a promised summer of reopenings coupled with a rise in COVID cases, BC’s provincial government is touting strong job numbers as a sign of economic health.
According to the latest figures from Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey, BC is the only province in the country where employment is over its pre-COVID level.
It’s the second month in a row that the westernmost province bucked the trend of still not being back to pre-pandemic employment.
“BC has a strong economy with one of the lowest unemployment rates in Canada at 6.6 per cent,” said Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon.
“We saw a gain of 3,300 full-time jobs and a reduction in part-time jobs by 6,500 last month.”
The official opposition, however, says the statistics don’t paint a complete picture of the province’s economic health.
According to the BC Liberals, the province’s labour underutilization rate is 9.9 per cent, over 3 per cent higher than BC’s unemployment rate.
The labour under-utilization rate includes a broader range of people, as it counts those individuals who are available and want to work but were not currently searching for work.
Furthermore, the BC Liberals say the province is increasingly relying on part-time labour, with full-time jobs down by 29,500 compared to pre-pandemic levels, as part-time jobs have increased by 43,200 over pre-pandemic levels.
“One month into the third stage of reopening, not only has BC lost jobs, but multiple industries are experiencing a worker shortage,” said Todd Stone, the BC Liberals’ jobs critic.
“What’s clear is the province can’t keep relying on part-time jobs and the public sector, as people need full-time jobs in a thriving private sector.”
The government acknowledged that businesses are indeed struggling to find workers, but argued the solution rests with issues in housing and child care affordability.
“Employers tell us that to attract long-term employees, people need access to affordable, reliable child care so they can get back into the labour market,” said Kahlon.
“People also need more affordable housing so they don’t have long commutes to work. And they need to be able to get the skills training they need to be active participants in our ever-changing economy.”
Nationwide, employment rose in July across most of the country, with Saskatchewan the lone province to see a drop in employment. Saskatchewan is the province furthest away from its pre-pandemic employment levels, at -3.6 per cent.
