B.C.’s white-hot economy took a breather in October as the province shed 1,100 jobs compared with the previous month.
The unemployment rate, however, fell one tick to 4.1% as fewer people sought work, according to Statistics Canada data released November 2.
B.C.’s unemployment rate is the lowest in the country, followed by Quebec at 5.2 per cent.
Ken Peacock, chief economist at the Business Council of B.C., told BIV on Oct. 29 that B.C.’s low jobless rate could put pressure on employers to boost wages amid an increasingly competitive job market.
The nation as a whole added 11,200 jobs in October compared with the 63,300 jobs added a month prior.
“While the economy managed to add jobs on net, and full-time ones at that, these gains are all due to self-employment — not necessarily a bad thing, but hardly a picture of strength,” TD senior economist Brian DePratto said in a note to investors.
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