March employment rate dismal in B.C., but Liberals defend jobs plan

VICTORIA – Jobs Minister Pat Bell says B.C.’s jobs plan is working, despite dismal employment figures provincially and nationwide in March.

Statistics Canada reports 54,500 jobs disappeared across the country last month, pushing national unemployment up two-tenths of a point to 7.2 per cent, while the British Columbia rate climbed to seven per cent, a considerable boost from the February setting of 6.3 per cent.

Bell confirms 22,400 full-time positions vanished in B.C., offset by a gain of 7,500 part-time jobs, leaving nearly 15,000 people pounding the pavement last month.

But Bell stands by B.C.’s jobs plan, a key plank in the Liberal government’s economic strategy, saying it continues to pay off in exports to surging markets such as China and India

Bell believes the province would be in much tougher shape without the jobs plan, but New Democrat finance critic Bruce Ralston says B.C. has fallen to ninth place in job creation across Canada since the jobs plan was launched in September, 2011.

He questions any positive results from the program and says a New Democrat government would put more emphasis on skills training to move the jobless back into the workforce. (CKNW)