The jobless rate in the sa国际传媒 area dipped from 5.2 per cent in December to 4.9 per cent in January, Statistics Canada says.听
This means a total of 6,200 people are now out of work in the Central Okanagan, down from 6,600 in December.听
Victoria, the provincial capital with a lot of government jobs, continues to have sa国际传媒sa国际传媒 lowest unemployment rate, dropping to 3.6 per cent last month from 3.8 per cent in December.听
The rates are 6.6 per cent in Vancouver, 5.2 per cent in Abbotsford-Mission, 6.8 per cent in Chilliwack, and 4.8 per cent in Kamloops.听
Nationally, the jobless rate was 6.6 per cent last month, down 0.1 percentage points. The labour market added 76,000 jobs in January, with the employment gains led by manufacturing and professional, scientific, and technical services.听
Nearly 40 per cent of the 1.9 million manufacturing jobs in Canada depend on U.S. demand for Canadian exports, Statistics Canada noted. In the automotive sector, almost 70 per cent of jobs depend on exports to the U.S.听
The prospect of 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian exports to the U.S. has been raised by U.S. President Donald Trump. The tariffs were to come into effect this week but implementation has been paused for at least a month with an agreement between the two countries on some border control issues.听
Across Canada, hourly wages were up 3.5 per cent on a year-over-year basis, to $35.99.
Gavin Dew, the BC Conservative MLA for sa国际传媒 Mission and the partysa国际传媒 Opposition Critic for Jobs, Economic Development, and Immigration, noted the provincial unemployment rate has now risen to six per cent.听
鈥淭he province continues to rely on taxpayer-funded government jobs instead of supporting the private sector,鈥 Dew said. 鈥淥ver the past two years, the public sector has grown nine times faster than private industry in sa国际传媒 - an unsustainable trend that signals economic weakness, not strength.
鈥淭he NDP is expanding government while private businesses struggle,鈥 Dew said. 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 a plan for prosperity - itsa国际传媒 a recipe for higher taxes and economic stagnation.鈥
But NDP Jobs minister Diana Gibson hailed sa国际传媒sa国际传媒 jobs numbers. 鈥淲e鈥檙e standing strong and defending British Columbians, workers, and industries against tariff threats from the United States,鈥 Gibson said.听
Though it has risen, sa国际传媒sa国际传媒 six per cent jobless rate is still below the national average of 6.6 per cent, Gibson observed.听
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