BC/Yukon Region - Labour Force Survey - April 2007
- Highlights
- Potential Labour Supply
- Summary of Labour Force Survey Results
- Summary Data - BC
- Employment by Industry - BC
- Employment by Sector - BC
- Unemployment Rates by Age & Sex - BC
- Unemployment Rates - Provinces
- Unemployment Rates - BC Economic Regions
Highlights
- BC's unemployment rate increased from 3.9% in March to 4.4% last month.
- The 16,300 job losses in BC over the past month were mainly part-time job losses in the Service sector (mainly Health and Social Assistance, and Food and Accommodation).
- These results are surprising and cannot be related to any events in these industries. This may be a statistical blip.
- Construction hit an all-time high of 194,000 jobs.
- Over the year, BC posted 2.7% job growth, or 59,900 jobs.
- Compared with last April, BC's unemployment rate is unchanged, but the province's participation rate is higher.
Potential Labour Supply
Many employers are reporting difficulties finding workers. So what do the LFS numbers tell us about potential labour supply within the province? Although there's not much room for BC's unemployment rate to go much lower, that is not the only measure to look at if we are trying to see where potential labour supply can come from.
First, of the total number of people employed in BC, almost 80% are in full-time positions. As the graph shows, however, this rate is below what we have reached in the past and shows no sign of significant upward movement. In Alberta, where employers are also reporting labour shortages, full-time employment is trending upward. So this is one option for BC employers: converting their part-time workers to full-time status.
Another measure to look at potential labour supply is the employment rate (the number of employed in relation to the size of the population). As the graph shows, BC's employment rate is trending upward, and is at a record high. But there still remains a gap between our rate and the rate in Alberta.
There could be underlying demographic and social reasons that explain some of the differences in employment rates between the provinces. But a key driver to move the employment rate upward would be wage increases sufficient to tap potential labour supply both from within BC and from other provinces.
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.)
| April 2007 | March 2007 | April 2006 | MC (#) | MC (%) | YC (#) | YC (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population 15+ (000) | 3,557.1 | 3,551.7 | 3,497.2 | 5.4 | 0.2 | 59.9 | 1.7 |
| Labour Force (000) | 2,353.8 | 2,357.3 | 2,294.9 | -3.5 | -0.1 | 58.9 | 2.6 |
| Employed (000) | 2,249.1 | 2,265.4 | 2,191.1 | -16.3 | -0.7 | 58.0 | 2.6 |
| Emp-Full-Time (000) | 1,794.8 | 1,794.3 | 1,748.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 46.8 | 2.7 |
| Emp-Part-Time (000) | 454.2 | 471.1 | 443.1 | -16.9 | -3.6 | 11.1 | 2.5 |
| Unemployed (000) | 104.7 | 91.9 | 103.8 | 12.8 | 13.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| Unemployment Rate (%) | 4.4 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 0.5 | -0.1 | ||
| Participation Rate (%) | 66.2 | 66.4 | 65.6 | -0.2 | 0.6 | ||
| Employment Rate (%) | 63.2 | 63.8 | 62.7 | -0.6 | 0.5 |
| April 2007 | March 2007 | April 2006 | MC (#) | MC (%) | YC (#) | YC (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Industry (000) | 2,249.1 | 2,265.4 | 2,191.1 | -16.3 | -0.7 | 58.0 | 2.6 |
| Goods-Producing | 495.7 | 493.2 | 460.2 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 35.5 | 7.7 |
| Agriculture | 31.9 | 33.5 | 35.7 | -1.6 | -4.8 | -3.8 | -10.6 |
| Forestry, Fishing, Mining, Oil & Gas |
49.1 | 45.2 | 39.6 | 3.9 | 8.6 | 9.5 | 24.0 |
| Utilities | 8.7 | 8.2 | 6.6 | 0.5 | 6.1 | 2.1 | 31.8 |
| Construction | 194.0 | 190.9 | 177.7 | 3.1 | 1.6 | 16.3 | 9.2 |
| Manufacturing | 211.9 | 215.3 | 200.7 | -3.4 | -1.6 | 11.2 | 5.6 |
| Service-Producing | 1,753.4 | 1,772.2 | 1,730.9 | -18.8 | -1.1 | 22.5 | 1.3 |
| Trade | 351.5 | 355.0 | 364.8 | -3.5 | -1.0 | -13.3 | -3.6 |
| Transport & Warehousing | 124.5 | 125.6 | 123.2 | -1.1 | -0.9 | 1.3 | 1.1 |
| Fin, Ins, Real Estate, Leasing | 145.2 | 149.2 | 129.5 | -4.0 | -2.7 | 15.7 | 12.1 |
| Prof, Sci, Tech Services | 163.0 | 161.1 | 171.4 | 1.9 | 1.2 | -8.4 | -4.9 |
| Mngmt, Admin, Other Support | 96.2 | 95.4 | 91.7 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 4.5 | 4.9 |
| Education Services | 158.7 | 162.9 | 153.0 | -4.2 | -2.6 | 5.7 | 3.7 |
| Health/Social Ass't | 241.6 | 248.5 | 224.1 | -6.9 | -2.8 | 17.5 | 7.8 |
| Info, Culture & Rec | 123.3 | 123.5 | 121.2 | -0.2 | -0.2 | 2.1 | 1.7 |
| Accom & food serv | 167.4 | 173.5 | 167.0 | -6.1 | -3.5 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Other Services | 87.2 | 85.3 | 91.1 | 1.9 | 2.2 | -3.9 | -4.3 |
| Public Admin | 94.8 | 92.2 | 94.0 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 0.9 |
| April 2007 | March 2007 | April 2006 | MC (#) | MC (%) | YC (#) | YC (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 2,249.1 | 2,265.4 | 2,191.1 | -16.3 | -0.7 | 58.0 | 2.6 |
| Employee (000) | 1,825.2 | 1,838.0 | 1,786.2 | -12.8 | -0.7 | 39.0 | 2.2 |
| Public | 404.4 | 409.2 | 385.1 | -4.8 | -1.2 | 19.3 | 5.0 |
| Private | 1,420.8 | 1,428.8 | 1,401.1 | -8.0 | -0.6 | 19.7 | 1.4 |
| Self-Employed (000) | 423.8 | 427.4 | 405.0 | -3.6 | -0.8 | 18.8 | 4.6 |
| April 2007 | March 2007 | April 2006 | MC (#) | YC (#) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Both - 15+ Yrs | 4.4 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 0.5 | -0.1 |
| Both - 15-24 Yrs | 7.6 | 7.3 | 7.7 | 0.3 | -0.1 |
| Both - 25+ Yrs | 3.8 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 0.6 | -0.1 |
| Men - 15+ Yrs | 4.3 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Men - 15-24 Yrs | 7.8 | 7.3 | 7.0 | 0.5 | 0.8 |
| Men - 25+ Yrs | 3.7 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Women - 15+ Yrs | 4.6 | 4.1 | 5.2 | 0.5 | -0.6 |
| Women - 15-24 Yrs | 7.4 | 7.4 | 8.5 | 0.0 | -1.1 |
| Women - 25+ Yrs | 4.1 | 3.4 | 4.5 | 0.7 | -0.4 |
| April 2007 | March 2007 | April 2006 | MC (#) | YC (#) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 6.1 | 6.1 | 6.4 | 0.0 | -0.3 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 12.9 | 14.3 | 15.8 | -1.4 | -2.9 |
| Prince Edward Island | 9.4 | 10.3 | 10.7 | -0.9 | -1.3 |
| Nova Scotia | 8.0 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| New Brunswick | 7.3 | 7.4 | 9.0 | -0.1 | -1.7 |
| Quebec | 7.2 | 7.6 | 8.3 | -0.4 | -1.1 |
| Ontario | 6.6 | 6.5 | 6.2 | 0.1 | 0.4 |
| Manitoba | 4.8 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| Saskatchewan | 3.9 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 0.1 | -0.8 |
| Alberta | 3.4 | 3.6 | 3.5 | -0.2 | -0.1 |
| British Columbia | 4.4 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 0.5 | -0.1 |
| Abbotsford | 4.7 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| Vancouver | 3.7 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 0.1 | -0.6 |
| Victoria | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 0.3 | -0.4 |
| April 2007 | March 2007 | April 2006 | MC (#) | YC (#) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 6.4 | 6.6 | 6.7 | -0.2 | -0.3 |
| British Columbia | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.8 | -0.1 | -0.5 |
| 910 Vancouver Island | 5.3 | 5.4 | 4.9 | -0.1 | 0.4 |
| 920 Lower Mainland - SW | 3.8 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 0.0 | -0.5 |
| 930 Thompson Okanagan | 4.5 | 5.0 | 6.0 | -0.5 | -1.5 |
| 940 Kootenay | 5.7 | 5.9 | 5.7 | -0.2 | 0.0 |
| 950 Cariboo | 5.2 | 5.2 | 5.9 | 0.0 | -0.7 |
| 960/970 N. Coast/Nechako | 8.6 | 8.3 | 7.7 | 0.3 | 0.9 |
| 980 Northeast | - - | - - | - - | - - | - - |
| Vancouver CMA | 3.7 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 0.0 | -0.6 |
| Victoria CMA | 3.1 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 0.0 | -0.4 |
| Abbotsford (Matsqui) | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
Strategic Services
HRSDC Regional Office
300 West Georgia Street,
Vancouver, B.C. V6H 1R1