More people were back on the job in July in the Central Okanagan, as unemployment numbers continue to fall locally, and across the country.
Nationally, the labour force increased by 419,000 as more parts of the economy reopen as the country continues to slowly recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The unemployment rate in the Central Okanagan fell slightly to 10 per cent in July, down from 10.2 per cent the previous month, after regaining closing to 4,000 jobs. That is still far above the region’s low-water mark of 4.2 per cent unemployment registered in January.
Throughout B.C., about 70,000 jobs were added in July, an increase of 3 per cent, while the unemployment rate fell 1.9 per cent to 11.1.
However, while more people are back on the job, about one in eight say they are working less than half their normal hours.
About 12 per cent say they are working less, which is down from 14.6 per cent in June.
Nationally, the unemployment rate sits at 10.9 per cent, down 1.4 per cent from June.
Combining job gains nationally over the past three months, Canada finds itself within about 1.3 million pre-pandemic jobs.
“The pace of increase in employment slowed in July relative to the prior month, and that’s likely to become a trend as the pace of easing in restrictions also slows down and the number of Canadians on temporary layoff falls,” CIBC senior economist Royce Mendes wrote in a note.
“The good news is that with virus cases low in Canada at moment, the country isn’t facing an immediate risk of having to tamp down activity again.”
