Statistics Canada released its job figures for August on Friday and Canada’s unemployment rate now stands at 6.6 per cent with 1.5 million Canadians not working.
That’s up 4.3 per cent from July (60,000 more jobless) and a staggering 22.9 per cent (272,000) more unemployed than there were in August 2023.
BC’s unemployment rate jumped from 5.5 per cent in July to 5.8 per cent in August, third-lowest in the country.
“We’re down a little bit, 4,300 jobs, but we gained 46,600 since August 2023,” said Brenda Bailey, BC’s Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation. “That’s still very strong job growth. Our unemployment rate is 5.8 per cent, which is up a little bit but it’s better than what we see across Canada at 6.6 per cent.”
In Prince George, the August unemployment rate was 4.7 per cent, up from 4.4 per cent in July and June. The city had 56,700 people working last month, compared to 51,000 in August 2023, when the unemployment rate in the city was 8.6 per cent.
Prince George had net-zero growth in new jobs added in August, compared to 400 in July and 1,700 in June.
