The Kootenay region’s unemployment is growing while the rest of the province is dropping, according to recent figures released by Statistics Canada for August.
The jobless rate for the Kootenays has risen to 7.8 per cent in the last month, up one percentage point from its 6.8 per cent mark in July.
According to Stats Can there are 6,200 people out of work in the Kootenays.
However, on the other side of the coin, the province itself gained almost 15,000 jobs in August, dropping the jobless rate to 6.7 per cent—markedly down from the 9.5 per cent position the province held one year ago— as result of higher part-time employment.
The August rate was also down from the July rate of seven per cent.
B.C. ranks first in job growth since August 2011 compared to other provinces, followed by Alberta, Quebec and Ontario. July saw an increase of 51,700 jobs compared with August 2011.
In August there were a further 14,900 jobs created and part-time employment increased by 18,600, despite a decline of 3,700 in full-time positions.
Overall, B.C.’s labour force increased by 8,200 people in August and now stands at 2,488,300. Compared with one year ago, B.C.’s labour force has increased by 34,600 people.
But the province still has some work to do to get people some work to do. B.C. has the highest jobless rate in Western Canada. The national unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.3 per cent.
Vancouver’s unemployment figure was unchanged at 6.8 per cent, Victoria’s jumped to 5.9 per cent from 5.6, and Kelowna’s figure tumbled to 4.1 per cent from 6.1 in July.