The West Coast job market held steady going into the summer, according to Friday data from Statistics Canada.
B.C. added 5,000 jobs in June for the fourth consecutive month of gains.
The numbers aren’t as rosy as they appear on the surface, though. The jump in employment numbers came from part-time employment (+21,300 jobs) as the province lost 16,300 full-time jobs.
Most of the gains made were driven by the food/accommodation sector (+8,000 jobs), making up for almost all of the 8,700 jobs lost in that sector a month prior.
The tech sector added 2,500 jobs—falling far short of the 11,100 jobs added in May.
Losses were felt in manufacturing (-4,800 jobs), transportation/warehousing (-4,800 jobs) and construction (-2,500 jobs).
The province’s unemployment rate dropped 0.8 percentage points to land at 5.6 per cent. This comes after the unemployment rate grew from April to May despite the province adding 13,000 jobs during that time period. The June figures show more people were leaving the workforce, bolstering the unemployment rate.
Canada as a whole added 83,000 jobs as the unemployment rate dropped 0.1 percentage point to 6.9 per cent.
“One arguable blemish is that most of the gains were in part-time jobs,” BMO economist Benjamin Reitzes said in a note, referring to the national numbers that paralleled trends in B.C.
“No matter how you slice things, this report is materially better than expected.”
But he said that given the uncertainty surrounding the economy, he remains skeptical of the latest jobs numbers.
“Even so, it appears that the economy is hanging in there for now, pending the result of ongoing trade negotiations,” Reitzes said.
TD senior economist Leslie Preston echoed the skepticism over the latest jobs data.
“One month isn't going to turn the page on what is a much cooler labour market relative to a year ago,” he said in a note. “With [U.S. President Donald] Trump making new threats for a higher 35 per cent tariff rate on Canadian goods just last night, certainty for many Canadian businesses doesn't appear to be improving any time soon.”
