Unemployment ticks upward in Central Okanagan

KELOWNA – Unemployment in the Central Okanagan has jumped in the last six months however the number of job hunters remains well below the national average.

In its latest labour force survey, Statistics Canada is reporting an unemployment rate of 4.5 per cent in the Kelowna census area, up six basis points from last month and 15 basis points since last February when the rate was just three per cent.

In February, Kelowna reported the lowest unemployment rate in the country at three per cent. Guelph, Ont., now holds that distinction with a rate of 3.4 per cent, down from five per cent in February.

Unemployment in the other three census areas in B.C. are all still higher than Kelowna with Abbottsford-Mission reporting 5.4 per cent, Victoria at six per cent and Vancouver a touch higher at 6.1 per cent.

Overall, Canada’s unemployment rate is unchanged from last month at 6.8 per cent and has only nudged up one basis point since February.

British Columbia’s overall rate is 6.1 per cent, up from 5.7 per cent five months ago. Saskatchewan is the lowest in the country with a rate of 4.7 per cent. The highest rates are still in the Maritimes with Prince Edward Island at 10.9 per cent, New Brunswick at 10.1 per cent and Newfoundland and Labrador at 12.9 per cent

To contact the reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infonews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.