Local jobless rate drops to record low for second straight month

For the second month in a row, the unemployment rate for the economic region that includes Vernon dropped to a record low.

Statistics Canada reported the unadjusted unemployment rate for the Thompson-Okanagan was 3.2 per cent in October of 2023.

That was down from the previous record low of 3.5 per cent recorded in September.

The unemployment rate was also down from the 4.9 per cent in October 2022.

The unadjusted employment rate, meanwhile, declined to 56.2 per cent, down from the 58.1 per cent rate reported the previous month and down from October 2022’s rate of 59.4 per cent.

StatsCan did not provide data specific for Vernon, but did have figures for Kelowna.

In October 2023, the adjusted unemployment rate in Kelowna was 2.9 per cent, while the employment rate was 58.3 per cent.

Kelowna’s unemployment rate was up from September’s figure of 2.5 per cent, while the employment rate was also down from the 61.3 per cent recorded the month prior.

British Columbia posted an adjusted unemployment rate of 5.4 per cent in October, unchanged from the month prior, while the employment rate fell from 61.9 per cent in September to 61.7 per cent in October.

“Earlier today, Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey (LFS) showed B.C.’s economic growth holding steady with a gain of 23,400 full-time jobs, offset by a decline of 27,500 part-time jobs in October. B.C. has the second-highest increase in full-time employment among provinces this month,” Brenda Bailey, minister of jobs, economic development and innovation, stated.

“So far this year, B.C. has added 47,300 jobs and our unemployment rate remained at 5.4 per cent, the fourth-lowest among provinces. B.C.’s economy continues to show strength in the face of broader challenges, including high national interest rates and a slower global economy.”

Bailey added there were 10,200 newly employed construction workers in October, as well as 5,600 jobs in the scientific and technical sector filled during the month in question.

As of the end of October, the province’s with lower unemployment rates than B.C. were Saskatchewan (4.4 per cent), Quebec (4.9), and Manitoba (5.2).

StatsCan reported that the national unemployment rate was 5.7 per cent in October. That was up from September’s rate of 5.5 per cent, and marked an annual increase from the 5.2 per cent rate in October, 2022.

The data collection agency noted that this was the fourth monthly increase in the unemployment rate since April.

Canada’s employment rate was recorded at 61.9 per cent, which was down from the 62.0 per cent rate recorded both in September and last October.