Statistics Canada says B.C. gained 25,000 jobs in May — an increase of 0.9 per cent compared to May.
This increase partially offsets a 1.3 per cent drop in February and March, representing a decrease of 39,000 jobs, but the unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.8 per cent.
Vancouver saw its unemployment rate drop 0.6 percentage points to 6.4 per cent in May, according to the data, but remains almost unchanged year-over-year.
Seasonally adjusted figures show B.C.’s full-time labour force increased by almost 34,000 jobs compared to April, but it was down close to 39,000 jobs compared with May 2025.
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Canada-wide, employment increased by 88,000, up 0.4 per cent over April, and the unemployment rate dipped 0.3 percentage points to 6.6 per cent.
BMO economist Benjamin Reitzes says the national numbers should “silence the recession crowd.”
“The Canada story remains the same: the economy is hanging in there, despite the headwinds from trade and now energy prices,” Reitzes said in a note to investors.
“Just when you think Canada is crumbling amid a string of negative data points, things reverse.”
He says these rebounds have been seen a few times over the past year.
“The economy isn’t booming, but it isn’t falling apart, either.”
This optimism comes just days after U.S. President Donald Trump revived his rhetoric about Canada becoming the 51st state. His comments come on the heels of StatsCan reporting Canada’s economy had shrunk two quarters in a row. This led to talks of the country entering a technical recession, but the C.D. Howe Institute’s Business Cycle Council says this data isn’t sufficient to call a recession, urging caution over reading too much into the data.
— With files from The Canadian Press