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B.C. sees decrease in job vacancies

Construction sector primarily responsible for the first decline since 2016
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Figures from Stats Canada show the number of job vacancies in British Columbia down in the third quarter of 2019. (Black Press File)

British Columbia is among several provinces with declining job vacancies, according to Statistics Canada.

Employers in British Columbia reported a decline in job vacancies of 3.9 per cent (about 4,300 posting) in the third quarter of 2019 compared with the same period in 2018.

This was the first year-over-year decline in vacancies since the first quarter of 2016.

This drop was concentrated in the construction sector, with the decrease primarily due to declines in the Lower Mainland–Southwest economic region, which includes Vancouver.

Across the country, B.C. and Alberta were among the provinces with declining job vacancies.

Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Quebec, as well as the Yukon recorded rising job vacancy levels, while the remaining jurisdictions recorded little change.

On a year-over-year basis, the job vacancy rate held steady at 3.3 per cent in the third quarter of 2019, as total payroll employment and job vacancies grew at similar rates.

This was the first quarter without a year-over-year increase in the job vacancy rate since the third quarter of 2016 in further suggesting a cooling-off period in Canadian economy.

RELATED: Greater Victoria sees unemployment rise in November

Earlier this month, new figures showed that provincial unemployment rose to five per cent in November, up 0.3 per cent from October and up 0.6 per cent from 12 months ago.

This said, the figures also show regional variations.

While Greater Victoria’s unemployment rate jumped to 3.5 per cent from 3.2 per cent, this rate is almost half of the rate in the Cariboo, the geographical centre of the provincial forestry and mining industry.



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Wolf Depner

About the Author: Wolf Depner

I joined the national team with Black Press Media in 2023 from the Peninsula News Review, where I had reported on Vancouver Island's Saanich Peninsula since 2019.
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