B.C. added 15,000 new jobs in October, according to the latest numbers from Statistics Canada.
But despite it being the second highest boost in the country following Ontario, the unemployment rate still rose half a point from September to 6.2 per cent.
Many of these new jobs are part-time work, a concern for Irene Lanzinger, president of the B.C. Federation of Labour.
“The trend is worrisome,” Lanzinger said. “We are deeply concerned that any growth in jobs is fueled by a continued rise in precarious part-time work.”
B.C. employers created 6,200 part-time jobs in October, with year-over-year numbers showing 75 per cent of all new jobs are part-time.
“These are jobs which don’t generally provide benefits, and come with lower pay that won’t support families in Canada’s most expensive province to live,” she said.
With a provincial election set for May, Lanzinger added it’s critical that both the Clark government and the NDP opposition led by John Horgan address the crisis in good jobs and wages.
B.C.’s unemployment rate remains the lowest among the provinces, compared to Canada’s average of seven per cent.
Growth in p/t precarious work in Stats Can Oct jobs report a worrisome trend for BC’s job market, economy https://t.co/G6jDa5joam #bcpoli
— BCFED (@bcfed) November 4, 2016
