Labour Day is a good time to look back at how the B.C. job market has evolved since the onset of the COVID-19 shock that began in the first quarter of 2020.
As for the unemployment rate, in July 2022 it reached 4.7 percent, well below the figures during the spring and summer of 2020 when COVID-driven economic disruptions were at a peak. One year ago, B.C’s. unemployment rate was 6.6 per cent, so it has dropped by another two percentage points in the last 12 months.
Looking ahead, I would note that the province’s economy is now losing steam amid a turbulent and uncertain global backdrop and decelerating growth in both the U.S. and Canada. This means that the pace of economic activity – including employment growth – is almost certain to cool over the remainder of 2022 and into next year. But I don’t anticipate a full-scale recession in the province.
It turns out that more than 90 per cent of the job gains since February 2020 have been concentrated in just six industries, including several where government directly or indirectly is the dominant employer. Heath care and social services have added more than 50,000 positions, there are 25,000 more people toiling in public administration roles, and payrolls in the education sector have expanded by 20,000. All of these “industries” are part of the broadly-defined public sector.