B.C. jobless rate jumps as it loses almost half of all jobs in the country

VICTORIA – British Columbia lost almost half of all Canada’s jobs last month, moving the provincial jobless rate to seven per cent.

Statistics Canada says of the 30,400 jobs that disappeared across Canada, 14,500 were in B.C., pushing up the provincial jobless rate four-tenths of a point to an even seven per cent in July.

But Jobs Minister Pat Bell isn’t daunted, pointing out 9,600 full-time positions were created since June and this drop in employment was due to the loss of part-time work.

Bell also says that since February, almost 47,000 people have found work in the province.

The minister says every province is seeing labour market fluctuations and he’s confident job creation will resume in B.C. soon.

Experts had expected Canada’s economy to create about 6,000 jobs last month, instead the unemployment rate rose one-tenth of a point to 7.3 per cent.