Liberals hope strong job creation in B.C. marks the start of a trend

VICTORIA – British Columbia’s jobs minister is pleased with Statistics Canada’s latest figures showing B.C. led the country in job creation in June, as the provincial unemployment rate fell half a point to 6.3 per cent.

Minister of Jobs Shirley Bond says employment figures show 8,900 net new jobs were created across the province last month, but she also says job creation has been up and down in B.C. recently.

Bond says she’s hopeful the June figures are the beginning of a trend showing the Liberal’s job plan is starting to kick in.

Bond is also pleased with a shift in the types of jobs created, saying 21,600 full-time positions opened up in June, offsetting the disappearance of 12,700 part-time jobs.

Across the regions, unemployment fell to 3.7 per cent in Nanaimo, 3.8 per cent in Prince George, dipped to 4.5 per cent in Kamloops and sits at 6.5 per cent in Vancouver.

Elsewhere, the number of people looking for work climbed two-tenths of a point in Kelowna and Abbotsford, reaching 7.7 and 8.5 per cent respectively in those urban centres, while sticking at its May setting of 5.5 per cent in Victoria. (CHNL)