Prince George’s unemployment rate in March rose to 3.8 per cent, up from 3.2 per cent in February.
However, the city’s unemployment rate was still down significantly from the 5.9 per cent reported in March 2021, according to data reported by Statistics Canada on Friday.
The city shed about 500 jobs between February and March, with the number of people employed dropping from 54,200 to 53,700. There were 51,300 people working in the city in March 2021.
The city’s labour force participation rate, the percentage of people working or actively seeking work, remained virtually unchanged from a year ago. The city’s participation rate in March was 67.7 per cent, compared to 67.5 per cent in March 2021.
Prince George’s unemployment remained lower than the B.C. average of 5.1 per cent in March. The province’s unemployment rate was the third-lowest in Canada’s, after Quebec (4.1 per cent), and Saskatchewan (5.0 per cent).
“Employment rose by 73,000 (+0.4 per cent) in March,” Statistics Canada reported. “The unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 5.3 (per cent), the lowest rate on record since comparable data became available in 1976.”
In a statement issued on Friday, B.C, Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation Ravi Kahlon said 94,500 more people are working in British Columbia today than when the COVID-19 pandemic started.
"As we shift into spring, British Columbia continues to lead the country in economic recovery with eight straight months of job growth. B.C. created 10,500 new jobs in March, building on the 100,000 jobs created last year,” Kahlon said. "B.C. also has the highest job recovery rates in the country for the private sector (104.9 per cent) and for women (104.3 per cent). Today, we are leading Canada in private-sector job recovery, with 82,700 more people working in the private sector than prior to the pandemic, complementing the tens of thousands of new health-care workers and other public-sector workers delivering the services people in B.C. count on.”
