Prince George's job market is back up above something of a milestone.
There were 51,000 people in the city who were holding down jobs in March, according to Statistics Canada labour market survey numbers released Friday.
It's the first time since December 2012 that the figure was over 50,000. The highest was 52,500, reached in September 2012.
"Prince George continues to have a very strong labour market, the people employed continues to increase," Initiatives Prince George CEO Heather Oland said. "We are the largest city in one of the fastest growing regions in the country."
At 40,400, the vast majority were employed in the service sector and 9,700 in the goods-producing sector.
Broken down further, an estimated 19 per cent were employed in retail and wholesale trade, 13 per cent in healthcare and social assistance, 10 per cent in accommodation and food services, eight per cent in construction and six per cent in transportation and warehousing.
Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying and gas accounted for five per cent, as did information, culture and recreation, public administration and manufacturing, while professional, scientific and technical services and finance, insurance, real estate and leasing each made up four per cent.
The city's unemployment rate stood at 5.5 per cent, with 2,900 people unemployed but seeking work, down from six per cent and 3,200 the month before.
Despite the low unemployment rate and the high number of people working, there are still jobs out there, Oland said, and added it's often a matter of acquiring the kinds of skills employers are seeking.
Shirley Bond, the MLA for Prince George-Valemount and the province's Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training cautioned that the month-to-month numbers are not the most accurate but was encouraged by the outcomes both provincially and locally.
At 5.8 per cent, B.C.'s unemployment rate is below the national average and Prince George's is even lower, Bond noted. Most of B.C.'s job gains were in the private sector, she also said.
-- see CANADA 13 for related story
