There was a hefty drop in the Cariboo region’s year over year unemployment rate last month.
Julien Alvarez, a Labour Market Analyst with Stats Canada, says it was 5.6% in September, down from 7.3% in September of 2025.
The 5.6% is the lowest the rate has been in the Cariboo since it was 5.2% in July of 2025.
Alvarez says there was roughly 8,200 more people working in the Cariboo last month compared to a year ago.
“Year over year we saw large increases in the service producing sector, and the largest increases were seen in educational services. Educational services grew by over 2,000 jobs, we also saw an increase in public administration of 2,700 jobs, and another notable increase took place in accommodation and food services, which rose by 1,300.”
Alvarez says there also some declines.
“We saw decreases in forestry, fishing, mining, querying, oil & gas, a decrease of 1,400 compared to the previous year. We also saw decreases in construction and manufacturing. Each of these industries decreased by about 800 people compared to the previous year.”
The national jobless rate in September was 6.5%.
BC’s unemployment rate was 6.4%, which was tied with Alberta for 5th place out of the provinces.
- Manitoba – 5.0 per cent
- Saskatchewan– 5.4 per cent
- Quebec– 6.0 per cent
- Nova Scotia – 6.3 per cent
- BC/Alberta – 6.4 per cent
- Ontario – 7.0 per cent
- Prince Edward Island – 7.3 per cent
- New Brunswick – 7.4 per cent
- Newfoundland and Labrador – 9.1 per cent
