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Greater Victoria’s unemployment remains below provincial, national rates

Unemployment on Vancouver Island was at five per cent in April
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According to Statistics Canada, Greater Victoria’s unemployment rate was 4.4 per cent in April, up 0.3 from March. (Black Press Media file photo)

New figures show an uptick in the local employment rates.

According to Statistics Canada, unemployment in Victoria Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) stood at 4.4 per cent during the survey period in April, up 0.3 per cent from March.

Despite the local uptick, Victoria’s unemployment rate remains among the lowest in Canada, with overall unemployment dropping 0.1 per cent to 5.2 per cent.

In British Columbia, the unemployment rate was 5.2 per cent, with some variability among regions and CMAs. On Vancouver Island, unemployment was five per cent in April, down from 7.2 per cent in April 2021. Among CMAs in British Columbia, the unemployment rate in Vancouver CMA was 5.4 in April, unchanged from March. In Abbotsford-Mission CMA the unemployment rate was 4.5 per cent, up from 0.5 per cent in March. In Kelowna CMA, the unemployment rate dropped 1.4 per cent to 5.3 per cent in April.

RELATED: Jobless rate falls to record low as economy adds 72,500 jobs in March, StatCan says

Following increases in four of the last six months, full-time employment was little changed, according to Statistics Canada.

“Increases in employment in professional, scientific and technical services and public administration were offset by declines in construction and retail trade,” it noted.

The report pointed to a number of signs of an increasingly tight labour market. “In addition to increases in full-time work, one aspect of this tightening has been a decrease in the proportion of part-time workers reporting that they would prefer full-time employment.”


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wolfgang.depner@peninsulanewsreview.com



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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