April 21, 2008

Labour Force Survey

British Columbia leads country in March employment gains

RICHARD GILBERT

staff writer

British Columbia lead the country in employment gains in March, while employment in Alberta reached record levels, according to a Statistics Canada report released on April 4.

British Columbia led employment gains in March with an estimated increase of 15,000 (0.6 per cent), pushing the employment rate to a new record high of 64.0 per cent. These employment gains were widespread across the whole economy, including the construction industry. Over the last year, employment in B.C. was up 55,000 (2.4 per cent), with half of the gains in construction.

“Construction employment growth shows the industry is responding positively to the demand for workers,” said Keith Sashaw, president of the Vancouver Regional Construction Association.

“Given the continued demand for skilled labour and the well-paying nature of construction jobs, we anticipate this growth to continue.”

With higher participation rates, British Columbia’s unemployment rate edged up 0.2 percentage points to 4.3 per cent in March.

Alberta added 10,000 workers (0.5 per cent) in March, pushing the province’s employment level above the two million mark for the first time.

Alberta leads the country’s 12 month employment growth (3.4 per cent).

The province was strong in both the goods (2.8 per cent) and the service sector (3.6 per cent).

The March unemployment rate of 3.4 per cent remains the lowest in Canada.

Canada’s employment rate hit a new record high in March of (68 per cent) with employment growth increasing slightly by an estimated 15,000 people.

The unemployment rate moved up 0.2 percentage points to 6.0 per cent due to a surge of entrants into the labour market.

Over the past 12 months, employment grew by an estimated 325,000, which is an increase of 1.9 per cent.

Print | Email | Comment