B.C.’s unemployment rate rose by 0.3 per cent to 5.6 per cent in December, as more British Columbians looked for work with some key sectors stagnating, if not struggling.
But the final labour force figures for 2023 also show several positive trends for other key industries.
Just under 168,000 British Columbians were without a job during the survey period for December, up from 156,300 in November. December’s unemployment rate of 5.6 per cent also matches the peak for the year, first reached in June.
But B.C.’s rising unemployment rate, which remains below the national average of 5.8 per cent, has coincided with more British Columbians entering the labour force thanks to population growth and actually finding jobs.
Just over 2.83 million people were employed in December as B.C. with a total labour force of just over 3 million led Canada in adding new jobs with just under 18,000 with most of the gains among full-time jobs.
Jobs Minister Brenda Bailey said in an interview the December figures are consistent with the rest of 2023, showing what she called “slow and steady growth” as B.C. added 74,000 new jobs in 2023 for the fourth-best rate in the country.
Looking at specific industries, the sectors of information, culture and recreation (13,200); health care and social assistance (12,300); and professional, scientific and technical services (6,400) created the most new jobs in December. The sectors of business, building and other support services (8,700) and manufacturing (5,100) lost the most jobs.
Bailey highlighted the job growth in the information, culture and recreation sector, because it reflects the resumption of the provincial film industry following a lengthy strike by Hollywood-based actors and writers.
“The film sector is so important to British Columbia, so many people work in that sector, so seeing it bounce back is really, really key,” Bailey said. She also linked the rise in the number of health care and social assistance jobs to recent changes that make it easier for people trained abroad to enter the provincial workforce.
“That growth in numbers probably reflects that works,” she said. As for the tech sector, it had an up-and-down year, she said, acknowledging job losses. “That’s hard on folks, but the good news is that there are still more jobs available than there are job losses.”
The picture is less rosy when it comes to the construction sector. A key employer and central to the government’s housing agenda, that sector stagnated in December with 700 jobs lost. Worse, construction employed 24,500 fewer people in December than in January, when sector employment had peaked at 256,600 jobs.
Bailey said several developments are unfolding in the construction sector. Four “mega-projects” (including Site C) are reaching their end, she said.
“So we do expect to see a downturn in those construction (job) numbers as those projects come to a conclusion,” she said. “But we also know that there is a lot of construction happening in the housing sector and in regards to hospitals and schools,” she added. “We also are very devoted to ensuring that we are training more people into sector.”
RELATED: ‘Feel like a recession’: economic forecast says B.C. headed for a slow year
The decline in the construction sector has coincided with rising interest rates
Dating back to Dec. 7, 2022, the Bank of Canada raised its key overnight lending rate four times to the current rate of 5 per cent, the highest in more than two decades. While the hikes have helped to bring down inflation, they have also discouraged private-sector investments in various areas, including, but not just, housing.
Bailey acknowledged the effects of high interest rates and global inflation, but added that government has been countering them by incentivizing economic diversification in the private sector and playing a more active role itself.
“As we have seen challenges internationally, we want to make sure that any one sector of our economy isn’t overly relied on, that there are a number of sectors that we can rely on equally,” she said, pointing to various tools such as the Jobs Manufacturing Fund worth $180 million.
She also pointed to the recent and pending run of housing legislation.
“And of course, a lot of the building that is going on in B.C. is being driven by government, things like expanding hospitals, building new hospitals, building new schools and that will continue regardless, unfortunately, with the additional cost.”
In other words, government will pursue what economists would call a Keynesian approach.
“I would say that when there are economic headwinds like the ones we are facing, you have a decision to make — are you going to continue to invest in people or are you going to pull services back and we are definitely not pulling back,” she said, adding that the public will see this approach in the upcoming budget.
“You can expect that we will continue to focus on bringing costs down for British Columbians,” she said, adding that budget will also include measures to further diversify the economy.
That promises to benefit what many might have been considered a dirty, sunset industry not so long: mining.
“Mining has become more and more important to us, as we look at ways to bring down carbon emissions and that is such a priority for us, such a priority internationally,” Bailey said.
The December job numbers might have offered a small, hopeful glimpse of that future as the primary resource sector added 1,500 new jobs. Overall, that sector employed 51,400 people in December, below the peak of 55,200 in September, but ahead of January’s low of 44,400.
@wolfgangdepner
wolfgang.depner@blackpress.ca
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
