For the second consecutive month, Victoria鈥檚 unemployment rate has dropped and remains the second lowest in the country, according to numbers released Friday by Statistics sa国际传媒.
The federal agency鈥檚 monthly labour force survey showed Victoria鈥檚 unemployment rate slipped to 3.3 per cent in August, down from 3.8 in July and 4.0 in June, and ranked it behind only Quebec City (2.6) as the lowest in sa国际传媒.
鈥淭he change was due to having slightly more people working in August, rather than a significant change in the overall labour force,鈥� said Statistics sa国际传媒鈥檚 Vincent Ferrao.
Compared with the same time last year, there have been workforce increases in several sectors including slight increases in business, building and other services, transportation and warehousing and professional, scientific and technical services.
The biggest increase, year-over-year, was in public administration which added a total of 7,800 positions across federal, provincial and municipal levels of government.
There were 27,100 working in public administration last month, up from 19,300 in August 2018.
The retail and wholesale trade sector saw the largest reduction of positions over the past 12 months with 26,700 working in August compared with 33,400 at the same time last year.
Provincially, sa国际传媒鈥檚 unemployment rate increased to 5.0 per cent in August, up from 4.7 per cent in July, meaning the province can no longer claim the lowest unemployment rate in the country, a position it has held for two years. The province shed 8,300 jobs last month, after losing 4,800 positions in July and 3,700 in June.
Bruce Ralston, Minister of Jobs, Trade and Technology, maintained the provincial economy has performed well over the past year creating 73,800 jobs.
鈥淏ritish Columbia鈥檚 labour market is showing its resilience with an unemployment rate at five per cent in August,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ome sectors in sa国际传媒 are not feeling the benefits of the strong labour market and growing economy. We remain dedicated to assisting workers in these industries and supporting these communities.鈥�
The country posted a job surge last month of 81,100 net new positions, the bulk of which were part time, in the services sector and picked up by young people.
Statistics sa国际传媒 said in a report Friday that, even with the increase, the August unemployment rate stayed at 5.7 per cent as more people looked for work. The jobless rate remained near its four-decade low.
The strong monthly gain 鈥� the biggest since sa国际传媒 added 106,500 jobs in April 鈥� easily beat economists鈥� predictions and followed three-straight months of relatively flat readings.
The report landed as the domestic economy shows signs of bouncing back from a slowdown last winter. sa国际传媒 has displayed resilience at a time of slowing global growth and heightened trade risks.
鈥淲ith solid details top to bottom, it is hard not to like today鈥檚 [labour] report,鈥� TD senior economist Brian DePratto wrote in a report to clients.
鈥淓ven the unchanged unemployment rate has a positive tone to it, coming from a rising labour force.鈥�
Compared with a year earlier, the numbers show sa国际传媒 added 471,300 jobs 鈥� the majority of which were full time 鈥� for an increase of 2.5 per cent. The number of hours worked, year-over-year, were up 1.2 per cent.
August employment (numbers from previous month in parentheses):
CANADA
sa国际传媒 Unemployment rate 5.7 per cent (5.7)
Employment rate 62.0 per cent (61.9)
Participation rate 65.8 per cent (65.6)
Number unemployed 1,160,100 (1,149,900)
Number working 19,111,500 (19,030,400)
Youth (15-24) unemployment 11.5 per cent (11.4)
Men (25+) unemployment 5.1 per cent (5.1)
Women (25+) unemployment 4.4 per cent (4.4)
PROVINCES
Newfoundland 13.1 (12.8)
Prince Edward Island 8.9 (8.4)
Nova Scotia 7.9 (7.4)
New Brunswick 8.6 (8.5)
Quebec 4.7 (4.9)
Ontario 5.6 (5.7)
Manitoba 5.6 (5.8)
Saskatchewan 5.1 (5.4)
Alberta 7.2 (7.0)
British Columbia 5.0 (4.4)
CITIES
St. John鈥檚, N.L. 7.9 (7.7)
Halifax 5.6 (5.2)
Moncton, N.B. 5.4 (5.7)
Saint John, N.B. 7.2 (6.8)
Saguenay, Que. 6.3 (5.3)
Quebec 2.6 (2.3)
Sherbrooke, Que. 5.2 (4.3)
Trois-Rivieres, Que. 5.5 (5.6)
Montreal 5.6 (5.8)
Gatineau, Que. 4.2 (4.2)
Ottawa 4.9 (5.0)
Kingston, Ont. 5.7 (4.8)
Peterborough, Ont. 4.3 (5.0)
Oshawa, Ont. 5.1 (5.2)
Toronto 5.9 (5.7)
Hamilton, Ont. 4.9 (4.9)
Guelph, Ont. 5.3 (5.1)
London, Ont. 6.3 (5.8)
Windsor, Ont. 6.0 (5.9)
Sudbury, Ont. 5.4 (5.0)
Thunder Bay, Ont. 6.4 (5.8)
Winnipeg 5.5 (5.4)
Regina 5.2 (5.3)
Saskatoon 5.8 (5.9)
Calgary 7.3 (6.9)
Edmonton 7.4 (7.5)
Kelowna4.4 (4.3)
Abbotsford-Mission5.1 (5.5)
Vancouver 4.4 (4.0)
Victoria 3.3 (3.8)
