There was good news when it came to last months employment and unemployment numbers in the Cariboo.
Vincent Ferrao Labour Market Analyst for Statistics Canada has the details.
“There were about 86,000 people employed March in the Cariboo Region and if we compare it to March of last year we had about 81,000 people working. That pushed the unemployment rate down. The current unemployment rate in March is 6.5, and in March of last year it was 7.1 percent so employment increased and the unemployment rate fell.”
Ferrao said the sectors that saw increases in employment in the Cariboo were educational services, accommodation and food services, as well as healthcare and social assistance services.
“Over the last 12 months, March 2024 compared with March 2023 there were about 75,000 more people employed in British Columbia, for an increase of 2.7 percent.” Ferrao said, “However with March 2024 compared with February 2024 there was little change in employment. Looking at the unemployment rate in March of this year is 5.5 percent and last year it was lower it was 4.6 percent. Despite more people working year over year we have an increase in the unemployment rate with more people in the labour force looking for work.”
In Canada over the last 12 months, there were 324,000 more people employed an increase of 1.8 percent.
However last month the country had an unemployment rate of 6.1 percent an increase of a full percentage point compared to March of last year which was 5.1.
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