The unemployment rate in the Cariboo region is the highest its been in almost a year and a half.
Vincent Ferrao, a Labour Market Analyst with Stats Canada, says it was 7.2 percent last month, down from 6.6 a year ago in January of 2024, and the highest its been since it was 7.9 percent in August of 2023.
Ferrao says there more than three thousand fewer people working in the region.
“If we look at the number of people who were employed in January, there were 80,500. A year ago in January there were 83,700 people working.”
Ferrao says the biggest drops were in construction and manufacturing.
“We had almost 6,000 people working in construction, and a year ago there were 7,700 people working in construction. And manufacturing we had about 7,200 people working last month, and a year ago it was 9,500.”
Ferrao says there was no change in the natural resources sector and small gains in the service industry, including in accommodation and food services.
The national jobless rate was down slightly in January to 6.6 percent from 6.7
BC’s unemployment rate was an even 6 percent, up slightly from 5.9, and the fourth lowest among the provinces.
Quebec and Saskatchewan were the lowest last month at 5.4 percent and Nova Scotia was 5.9
Here is a breakdown of all the provinces:
Quebec/Saskatchewan 5.4%
Nova Scotia 5.9%
British Columbia 6.0%
Manitoba 6.1%
New Brunswick 6.4%
Alberta 6.7%
Ontario 7.6%
Prince Edward Island 7.2%
Newfoundland and Labrador 10.6%
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