About the same as last month but much lower than a year ago.
That sums up the Cariboo region’s unemployment rate for the month of September.
Vincent Ferrao is a Labour Market Analyst with Stats Canada.
“The unemployment rate, it currently sits at 6.3 percent. It was much higher a year ago at 10.7 and compared to last month it was very similar 6.2. If we go back to two years ago, 2019, the unemployment was 6.8.”
Ferrao says despite the drop in the unemployment rate though, there were actually around the same number of people working in the region compared to a year ago.
“Looking at the month of September we have just under 86,000 people working. 85,900 to be more exact. That is little change compared to August. Compared to a year ago they had about 85.900 exactly, so no change.”
He says the real change is in the number of people looking for work.
“Ya there were fewer people unemployed, fewer people looking for work. 5,800 people were looking for work this September, and a year ago September, 2020 there were about 10,300 people unemployed.”
In terms of where there were increases and decreases in the different sectors when it comes to employment, Ferrao says there were 1,500 more people working in accommodation and food services, as well as minor increases in Natural Resources and small declines in transportation and warehousing and construction.
BC’s unemployment rate was 5.9 percent last month, which is the third lowest in the country.
Manitoba has an unemployment rate of 5.6 percent and Quebec is at 5.7
The national jobless rate is 6.9 percent.