Greater Victoria鈥檚 unemployment rate has dropped for the third month in a row, moving to 7.6 per cent in October.
New numbers released Friday by 颅Statistics sa国际传媒 in its monthly labour force survey show that the capital region鈥檚 labour force declined slightly as 颅employment rose. A total of 1,200 more people were employed last month that in September.
Along with the rest of sa国际传媒, Greater Victoria鈥檚 unemployment rate jumped when the pandemic arrived.
In February, the capital region鈥檚 颅unemployment rate was just 3.4 per cent. But it reached 11.1 per cent in July, dropping to 10.3 per cent in August and then 9.1 per cent in September. Greater 颅Victoria鈥檚 October rate is below sa国际传媒鈥檚 eight per cent, and the national rate of 8.9聽per cent.
Year-over-year, the number of people working in health care and social assistance in Greater Victoria climbed to 31,600 in October from 25,000 in the same month in 2019, a Statistics sa国际传媒 analyst said.
Professional, scientific and technical services saw jobs move up to 21,500 last month, compared with 18,800 in October 2019.
Manufacturing work rose to 7,400 jobs in October, up from 5,200 the same month last year.
Greater Victoria鈥檚 tourism and 颅hospitality sector has taken a beating 颅during the pandemic, a situation illustrated by job figures.
Information, culture and recreation saw a decline to 5,800 workers in October from 10,000 in Oct. 2019.
Accommodation and food services slid to 9,100 jobs last month from 16,500 the previous year.
As well, retail and wholesale trade jobs in the capital region slipped to 24,300 in October from 27,200 for that month in 2019.
sa国际传媒 Premier John Horgan said sa国际传媒 experienced its sixth consecutive month of significant job creation, leading the country with 33,500 new jobs.
鈥淭his jobs report is another positive sign for our economy and the people of British Columbia,鈥� he said. 鈥淗owever, the numbers, while welcome, do not fully reflect the continuing serious hardship in some sectors of the economy. We know there is much more to do as some businesses are still struggling.鈥�
The most important goal is to slow the spread of the virus. 鈥淭hat means staying local, only spending time with our 鈥榮afe six鈥� and following the safety basics at work, at school and at home.鈥�
Nationally, nearly one-quarter of 颅sa国际传媒鈥檚 unemployed have been without work for six months or more, with 颅Statistics sa国际传媒 reporting a spike in their numbers in October even as the economy eked out another month of 颅overall job growth.
Nearly 450,000 were considered long-term unemployed last month, meaning they had been without a job for 27 weeks or more, with their ranks swelling by 79,000 in September and then 151,000 more in October.
Long-term unemployed now make up 24.8 per cent of sa国际传媒鈥檚 unemployed, who numbered 1.8 million in October, as the wave of short-term layoffs in March in April rippled into the fall.
The jumps in September and October are the sharpest over more than 40 years of comparable data, and have pushed long-term unemployment beyond what it was just over a decade ago during the global financial crisis.
鈥淎s the pandemic lingers, and vulnerable sectors like food services continue to struggle, it鈥檚 really going to be tough to get back to normal,鈥� said Brendon 颅Bernard, an economist with job-posting site Indeed.
Leah Nord, senior director of workforce strategies for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said the numbers show governments need to roll out 鈥渟ignificant鈥� skills training programs to those affected workers pivot to new careers.
The pace of job growth slowed in October as the economy added 83,600 jobs in the month compared with 378,000 in September, Statistics sa国际传媒 said.
These increases marked the sixth straight month of gains after three million jobs were lost over March and April when the pandemic first hit sa国际传媒 hard.
