Canada lost tens of thousands of jobs in the past month, and B.C. was one of the provinces hit the hardest.
In its monthly labour force survey, Statistics Canada said Friday that employers collectively shed 84,000 positions in February, driving the unemployment rate up two-tenths of a point to 6.7 per cent.
Nationally, February saw more than 100,000 jobs lost in full-time work, while private sector employment fell by 73,000 positions.
B.C. lost just over 20,000 jobs, which Jairo Yunis, director of policy at the Business Council of British Columbia, says is the biggest monthly drop since April 2021.
“And that’s the sixth largest monthly drop in 20 years,” Yunis explained.
“So it’s a significant number put in that context. And most of those job losses were full-time roles in the private sector, which reinforces a trend that we’ve been seeing for many years now, which is weak private sector job growth in the province.”
Despite the job losses, B.C.’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.1 per cent — the fourth lowest in Canada.
A statement from the provincial Minister of Jobs and Economic Growth, Ravi Kahlon, noted that B.C. also made an increase of 7,200 jobs in accommodation and food services, which is “a good sign for small businesses in addition to 5,300 new jobs in professional, scientific and technical services, as well as 2000 jobs in agriculture.”
Since January, 2019, Yunis says employment growth in the private sector has continued around 4 per cent, whereas the public sector has skyrocketed to 40 per cent.
“The reason that matters is because long-term wage growth and economic growth are driven by the private sector. That also ultimately provides the tax base for the government to fund essential public services,” said Yunis.
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BC Conservative shadow minister for jobs, economic development, innovation and AI, Gavin Dew, says it’s a worrying trend.
In a statement over the weekend, he expressed his concern with the continued imbalance between public sector and private sector job growth.
“We need public sector discipline and massive private sector growth to reset the fiscal balance, and that’s not happening under this government,” stated Dew.
Yunis says the Business Council is urging officials in Victoria to focus on the policies that are possibly hampering private sector investment conditions to build a healthier labour market in the long term.
—With files from The Canadian Press.