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BC/Yukon Region - Labour Force Survey - March 2007

Highlights

  • BC's unemployment rate hit a record low of 3.9%
  • BC's youth unemployment rate hit a record low of 7.3%
  • Over the past month, the number of jobs in BC grew by 12,500
  • Over the past year, BC has added 78,300 new jobs, translating to a job growth rate of 3.6%
  • BC accounted for one-fifth of total Canadian job growth over the twelve months
  • Manufacturing employment hit a record 215,300 jobs, up 4.1% over last March
  • The province's employment rate hit a record 63.8%
  • Our level of unemployment (91,900) is the same as what it was in November 1979

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BC and Alberta Wages

Wages in BC have been increasing, but at a slower rate than the increases taking place in Alberta. On an annual basis (Apr/05-Mar/06 compared with Apr/04-Mar/05), wages in BC increased by 3.3%, but increased 6.5% in Alberta.

Over the past year, BC workers earned an average $20.09 per hour compared with $21.39 in Alberta. That makes for an average wage gap of $1.30 between the two provinces. That's quite a reversal since 1997, when BC's average hourly wage was $2.12 ahead of the Alberta's.

Average hourly wages BC-AB

Except for 2003, the trend has been an increasing wage gap between the two provinces. This gap will continue to widen if wage increases in Alberta continue to exceed those in BC.

In the context of labour shortages in both provinces, as well as an established pattern of labour mobility between the two provinces, this wage gap represents an additional pressure for BC employers. If wage levels and trends shown in the graphs below continue throughout 2007, we can expect labour shortages in BC to worsen.

Gap between hourly wages BC-AB

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Summary of Labour Force Survey Results

Legend:
MC(#) = Absolute Monthly Change
MC(%) = Percentage Monthly Change
YC(#) = Absolute Yearly Change
YC(%) = Percentage Yearly Change
"- -" = indicates number suppressed due to high sample variance

 

Summary Data - BC - 1 Month (Seasonally Adj.)
  March 2007 February 2007 March 2006 MC (#) MC (%) YC (#) YC (%)
Population 15+ (000) 3,551.7 3,547.4 3,492.4 4.3 0.1 59.3 1.7
Labour Force (000) 2,357.3 2,347.4 2,289.5 9.9 0.4 67.8 3.0
Employed (000) 2,265.4 2,252.9 2,187.1 12.5 0.6 78.3 3.6
   Emp-Full-Time (000) 1,794.3 1,797.5 1,728.2 -3.2 -0.2 66.1 3.8
   Emp-Part-Time (000) 471.1 455.3 458.9 15.8 3.5 12.2 2.7
Unemployed (000) 91.9 94.6 102.4 -2.7 -2.9 -10.5 -10.3
Unemployment Rate (%) 3.9 4.0 4.5 -0.1   -0.6  
Participation Rate (%) 66.4 66.2 65.6 0.2   0.8  
Employment Rate (%) Employment Rate (%) 63.8 63.5 62.6 0.3   1.2

 

Employment by Industry - BC - 1 Month (Seasonally Adj.)
  March 2007 February 2007 March 2006 MC (#) MC (%) YC (#) YC (%)
Total Industry (000) 2,265.4 2,252.9 2,187.1 12.5 0.6 78.3 3.6
 
Goods-Producing 493.2 484.2 467.3 9.0 1.9 25.9 5.5
Agriculture 33.5 35.7 36.2 -2.2 -6.2 -2.7 -7.5
Forestry, Fishing, Mining,
Oil & Gas		 45.2 48.3 39.8 -3.1 -6.4 5.4 13.6
Utilities 8.2 9.3 7.2 -1.1 -11.8 1.0 13.9
Construction 190.9 186.5 177.3 4.4 2.4 13.6 7.7
Manufacturing 215.3 204.5 206.8 10.8 5.3 8.5 4.1
Service-Producing 1,772.2 1,768.7 1,719.8 3.5 0.2 52.4 3.0
Trade 355.0 359.1 358.8 -4.1. -1.1 -3.8 -1.1
Transport & Warehousing 125.6 131.3 124.9 -5.7 -4.3 0.7 0.6
Fin, Ins, Real Estate, Leasing 149.2 139.9 132.7 9.3 6.6 16.5 12.4
Prof, Sci, Tech Services 161.1 168.9 166.1 -7.8 -4.6 -5.0 -3.0
Mngmt, Admin, Other Support 95.4 96.7 90.4 -1.3 -1.3 5.0 5.5
Education Services 162.9 159.9 153.5 3.0 1.9 9.4 6.1
Health/Social Ass't 248.5 243.2 224.3 5.3 2.2 24.2 10.8
Info, Culture & Rec 123.5 116.2 119.6 7.3 6.3 3.9 3.3
Accom & food serv 173.5 173.1 162.4 0.4 0.2 11.1 6.8
Other Services 85.30 89.0 93.7 -3.7 -4.2 -8.4 -9.0
Public Admin 92.2 91.4 93.5 0.8 0.9 -1.3 -1.4

 

Employment by Sector - BC - 1 Month (Seasonally Adj.)
  March 2007 February 2007 March 2006 MC (#) MC (%) YC (#) YC (%)
Total 2,265.4 2,252.9 2,187.1 12.5 0.6 78.3 3.6
Employee (000) 1,838.0 1,829.1 1,770.6 8.9 0.5 67.4 3.8
   Public 409.2 404.7 382.7 4.5 1.1 26.5 6.9
   Private 1,428.8 1,424.4 1,388.0 4.4 0.3 40.8 2.9
Self-Employed (000) 427.4 423.8 416.5 3.6 0.8 10.9 2.6

 

Unemployment Rates by Age & Sex - BC - 1 Month (Seasonally Adj.)
  March 2007 February 2007 March 2006 MC (#) YC (#)
Both - 15+ Yrs 3.9 4.0 4.5 -0.1 -0.6
Both - 15-24 Yrs 7.3 7.8 7.6 -0.5 -0.3
Both - 25+ Yrs 3.2 3.3 3.8 -0.1 -0.6
Men - 15+ Yrs 3.7 3.7 4.1 0.0 -0.4
Men - 15-24 Yrs 7.3 8.0 8.0 -0.7 -0.7
Men - 25+ Yrs 3.1 2.8 3.4 0.3 -0.3
Women - 15+ Yrs 4.1 4.5 4.9 -0.4 -0.8
Women - 15-24 Yrs 7.4 7.6 7.2 -0.2 0.2
Women - 25+ Yrs 3.4 3.8 4.3 -0.4 -0.9

 

Unemployment Rates - Provinces - 1 Month (Seasonally Adj.)
  March 2007 February 2007 March 2006 MC (#) YC (#)
Canada 6.1 6.1 6.3 0.0 -0.2
Newfoundland and Labrador 14.3 14.3 15.7 0.0 -1.4
Prince Edward Island 10.3 10.1 12.3 0.2 -2.0
Nova Scotia 7.9 7.4 7.9 0.5 0.0
New Brunswick 7.4 6.9 9.2 0.5 -1.8
Quebec 7.6 7.8 8.4 -0.2 -0.8
Ontario 6.5 6.3 6.2 0.2 0.3
Manitoba 4.3 4.3 4.2 0.0 0.1
Saskatchewan 3.8 4.0 5.0 -0.2 -1.2
Alberta 3.6 3.5 3.4 0.1 0.2
British Columbia 3.9 4.0 4.5 -0.1 -0.6
  Abbotsford 4.3 4.3 4.5 0.0 -0.2
  Vancouver 3.6 4.2 4.7 -0.6 -1.1
  Victoria 3.2 3.1 3.8 0.1 -0.6

 

Unemployment Rates - BC Economic Regions - 3 Month Avg. (unadj.)
  March 2007 February 2007 March 2006 MC (#) YC (#)
Canada 6.6 6.3 6.9 0.3 -0.3
British Columbia 4.4 4.6 5.2 -0.2 -0.8
910 Vancouver Island 5.4 5.3 5.3 0.1 0.1
920 Lower Mainland - SW 3.8 4.2 4.9 -0.4 -1.1
930 Thompson Okanagan 5.0 5.0 5.5 0.0 -0.5
940 Kootenay 5.9 6.8 6.5 -0.9 -0.6
950 Cariboo 5.2 5.3 6.1 -0.1 -0.9
960/970 N. Coast/Nechako 8.3 7.1 9.1 1.2 -0.8
980 Northeast          
Vancouver CMA 3.7 4.1 4.8 -0.4 -1.1
Victoria CMA 3.1 2.9 3.8 0.2 -0.7
Abbotsford (Matsqui) 4.8 4.7 4.9 0.1 -0.1

 

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Strategic Services
HRSDC Regional Office
300 West Georgia Street,
Vancouver, B.C. V6H 1R1

Date Modified: 2009-01-13

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