Prince George enjoyed one of the steepest declines in the number of people collecting Employment Insurance, according to a Statistics Canada released last week.
Between March 2010 and March 2011, the number of recipients receiving regular benefits dropped 32 per cent to 2,060 in Prince George, behind only Fort St. John, with a 38.9-per-cent decline, and Quesnel, at 32 per cent.
Prince George Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer Jennifer Brandle-McCall said it's a sign that the economy is picking up.
"We are hearing this from most of our members," she said in an e-mail.
"What we also know for certain is that Prince George is truly a knowledge-based resource economy connected to the world," Brandle-McCall continued.
"We have had increasing enrolment over the last year at our local college, the College of Caledonia, to the tune of a 4.3-per-cent increase.
"That, coupled with the training occurring at UNBC, in addition to the fact that industries such as mining, transportation, and manufacturing are experiencing unprecedented growth, in Prince George and the immediate surrounding area, means there are many jobs available and these jobs are being filled by qualified individuals with the training and experience to supply the labour demand."
Prince George is also earning a reputation for non-resource service based industries related to health care and education which are areas of additional local economic growth with high labour demands, she added.
"While numbers like these are good news for our area, the writing is on the wall - we may soon be in a situation where the number of jobs, stemming from our geographic position as a service and supply centre for all the economic growth surrounding us as well as our rich natural resource base, will be greater than the labour available."
Prince George's unemployment rate in March stood at 5.8 per cent, compared to 9.6 per cent the year before. As well, 5,000 people were seeking work in March 2010 compared to just 2,900 a year later, according to Statistics Canada.
