Kelowna has worst jobless rate for third month in a row

Kelowna is winning a competition no one wants to be a part of. Who has the worst jobless rate in Canada?

Kelowna’s unemployment rate for July was 9.3 per cent, up from 9 per cent in May when it also took the country’s top spot for unemployment.

In July, Kamloops’ jobless rate held steady at 6.5 per cent, according to Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey.

“B.C.’s jobs divide remains stark. Unemployment is far higher in business-driven communities like Kelowna, 9.3 per cent, and Abbotsford-Mission, 8.3 per cent, than in Victoria, five per cent. Government should be focused on creating the conditions for private-sector investment and job growth” Kelowna-Mission MLA Gavin Dew said in a press release.

While Kelowna saw a slight uptick in unemployment, the jobless rate in BC as a whole and nationally have improved.

B.C. saw its unemployment rate go down to 6.2 per cent as 18,000 people found jobs in July. The national unemployment rate is down to 6.4 per cent, the lowest since July 2024.

“A higher proportion of people searching for work have been finding jobs compared with last year,” Statistics Canada said in its report.

While the job finding rate is better than it was last year, it’s still worse than it was before the pandemic.

“The job finding rate — the proportion of unemployed people who found a job between June and July — was 20.8 per cent. This was up from 18.5 per cent for the same period a year earlier but below the pre-COVID-19 pandemic average of 26.6 per cent,” StatCan said.

If there were a competition to see which Canadian city could have the worst unemployment rate, Kelowna would be comfortable with its 9.3 per cent lead since second place goes to Oshawa, Ont. at 8.4 per cent.