BC/Yukon Region - Labour Force Survey - December 2007

Highlights

  • Last month, BC labour market saw a loss of 7,000 jobs. The labour force, however, shrank by the same amount, so the number of unemployed remained unchanged at 100,000. As a result, the province's unemployment also remained unchanged at 4.2%.

  • The number of people working in the construction industry hit another record last month, reaching 209,700 jobs. On the other hand, manufacturing employment was down by 13,000 jobs last month, with key losses in pulp and paper.

  • Over the year (December over December), BC's job market grew by 72,900 jobs or 3.3%, second only to Alberta's growth rate of 4.3%. Significant job gains were seen in Retail and Wholesale Trade (+24,900), Construction (+23,200), and Transportation and Warehousing (+18,700). Only Manufacturing saw a significant loss in employment (-13,200).
  • Employment in Accommodation and Food Services declined slightly over the year (-1,800), likely reflecting some weakness in the tourism sector as a result of the weak US dollar.

  • At 4.2%, BC unemployment rate is a full percentage-point below last December's 5.2%. Except for the North Coast and Nechako, the unemployment rate has been treading downward in all regions in BC.

  • The unemployment rate for women aged 25+ hit an all-time low of 3.3% last month.

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Five-Year Outlook

According to the Conference Board of Canada, BC's labour market will remain fairly robust over the next five years.

While population growth will help steady at 1.1% per year, the province's labour force participation will level off at 66.0%. After that, expect to see the pace of retirements pick up and push the participation rate downward.

On the demand side, employment growth will gradually taper off to from 1.4% this year to 0.9% in 2012.

Given the directions in population, labour force growth, participation, and employment, the Conference Board is forecasting that the unemployment rate will remain at or very close to 4.0% for the next five years. This means that we can expect continued reports of shortages in occupations where wages are not sufficiently responsive to demand pressures.

Participation Rate in BC
Unemployment Rate in BC

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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.)
  December 2007 November 2007 December 2006 MC (#) MC (%) YC (#) YC (%)
Population 15+ (000) 3,602.7 3,597.6 3,538.0 5.1 0.1 64.7 1.8
Labour Force (000) 2,391.7 2,398.6 2,340.7 -6.9 -0.3 51.0 2.2
Employed (000) 2,291.4 2,298.4 2,218.5 -7.0 -0.3 72.9 3.3
   Emp-Full-Time (000) 1,815.8 1,849.5 1,773.2 -33.7 -1.8 42.6 2.4
   Emp-Part-Time (000) 475.7 448.9 445.3 26.8 6.0 30.4 6.8
Unemployed (000) 100.2 100.2 122.2 0.0 0.0 -22.0 -18.0
Unemployment Rate (%) 4.2 4.2 5.2 0.0   -1.0  
Participation Rate (%) 66.4 66.7 66.2 -0.3   0.2  
Employment Rate (%) 63.6 63.9 62.7 -0.3   0.9  

Employment by Industry - BC - 1 Month (Seasonally Adj.)
  December 2007 November 2007 December 2006 MC (#) MC (%) YC (#) YC (%)
Total Industry (000) 2,291.4 2,298.4 2,218.5 -7.0 -0.3 72.9 3.3
 
Goods-Producing 503.0 509.2 483.3 -6.2 -1.2 19.7 4.1
Agriculture 39.6 39.9 36.0 -0.3 -0.8 3.6 10.0
Forestry, Fishing, Mining,
Oil & Gas		 50.5 46.8 48.2 3.7 7.9 2.3 4.8
Utilities 13.2 12.5 9.3 0.7 5.6 3.9 41.9
Construction 209.7 207.0 186.5 2.7 1.3 23.2 12.4
Manufacturing 190.0 203.0 203.2 -13.0 -6.4 -13.2 -6.5
Service-Producing 1,788.4 1,789.2 1,735.3 -0.8 0.0 53.1 3.1
Trade 365.3 370.5 340.4 -5.2 -1.4 24.9 7.3
Transport & Warehousing 135.9 128.2 117.2 7.7 6.0 18.7 16.0
Fin, Ins, Real Estate, Leasing 141.9 142.7 147.7 -0.8 -0.6 -5.8 -3.9
Prof, Sci, Tech Services 160.1 163.2 164.5 -3.1 -1.9 -4.4 -2.7
Mngmt, Admin, Other Support 106.0 103.8 108.5 2.2 2.1 -2.5 -2.3
Education Services 159.2 159.6 162.3 -0.4 -0.3 -3.1 -1.9
Health/Social Ass't 235.9 241.9 239.2 -6.0 -2.5 -3.3 -1.4
Info, Culture & Rec 123.6 120.6 105.6 3.0 2.5 18.0 17.0
Accom & food serv 169.0 172.0 170.8 -3.0 -1.7 -1.8 -1.1
Other Services 88.1 88.8 89.0 -0.7 -0.8 -0.9 -1.0
Public Admin 103.4 97.8 90.0 5.6 5.7 13.4 14.9

 

Employment by Sector - BC - 1 Month (Seasonally Adj.)
  December 2007 November 2007 December 2006 MC (#) MC (%) YC (#) YC (%)
Total 2,291.4 2,298.4 2,218.5 -7.0 -0.3 72.9 3.3
Employee (000) 1,877.3 1,875.4 1,786.8 1.9 0.1 90.5 5.1
   Public 410.7 401.7 401.2 9.0 2.2 9.5 2.4
   Private 1,466.6 1,473.7 1,385.7 -7.1 -0.5 80.9 5.8
Self-Employed (000) 414.1 423.0 431.7 -8.9 -2.1 -17.6 -4.1

 

         
Unemployment Rates by Age & Sex - BC - 1 Month (Seasonally Adj.)
  December 2007 November 2007 December 2006 MC (#) YC (#)
Both - 15+ Yrs 4.2 4.2 5.2 0.0 -1.0
Both - 15-24 Yrs 7.9 8.1 9.6 -0.2 -1.7
Both - 25+ Yrs 3.4 3.4 4.4 0.0 -1.0
Men - 15+ Yrs 4.3 3.9 4.8 0.4 -0.5
Men - 15-24 Yrs 8.0 6.8 10.7 1.2 -2.7
Men - 25+ Yrs 3.5 3.3 3.7 0.2 -0.2
Women - 15+ Yrs 4.1 4.5 5.7 -0.4 -1.6
Women - 15-24 Yrs 7.8 9.6 8.5 -1.8 -0.7
Women - 25+ Yrs 3.3 3.4 5.1 -0.1 -1.8

 

Unemployment Rates - Provinces - 1 Month (Seasonally Adj.)
  December 2007 November 2007 December 2006 MC (#) YC (#)
Canada 5.9 5.9 6.1 0.0 -0.2
Newfoundland and Labrador 12.4 13.2 13.8 -0.8 -1.4
Prince Edward Island 10.6 11.2 12.4 -0.6 -1.8
Nova Scotia 7.7 8.0 7.3 -0.3 0.4
New Brunswick 7.8 7.2 8.5 0.6 -0.7
Quebec 7.0 7.0 7.5 0.0 -0.5
Ontario 6.5 6.2 6.1 0.3 0.4
Manitoba 4.2 4.2 4.1 0.0 0.1
Saskatchewan 4.0 4.0 4.0 0.0 0.0
Alberta 3.2 3.6 3.3 -0.4 -0.1
British Columbia 4.2 4.2 5.2 0.0 -1.0
   Abbotsford 3.9 4.1 4.4 -0.2 -0.5
   Vancouver 4.2 4.2 4.7 0.0 -0.5
   Victoria 2.9 2.8 3.6 0.1 -0.7

 

Unemployment Rates - BC Economic Regions - 3 Month Avg. (unadj.)
  December 2007 November 2007 December 2006 MC (#) YC (#)
Canada 5.5 5.4 5.7 0.1 -0.2
British Columbia 3.9 3.9 4.4 0.0 -0.5
910 Vancouver Island 3.4 3.4 4.9 0.0 -1.5
920 Lower Mainland - SW 3.6 3.9 4.1 -0.3 -0.5
930 Thompson Okanagan 4.2 3.8 4.2 0.4 0.0
940 Kootenay 5.9 5.7 7.3 0.2 -1.4
950 Cariboo 5.0 4.2 5.5 0.8 -0.5
960/970 N. Coast/Nechako 9.1 8.1 6.2 1.0 2.9
980 Northeast - - - - - - - - - -
Vancouver CMA 3.7 3.9 4.0 -0.2 -0.3
Victoria CMA 2.6 2.8 3.4 -0.2 -0.8
Abbotsford (Matsqui) 3.4 3.7 4.1 -0.3 -0.7

 

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