CPABC: Upper Vancouver Island unemployment rate declines to 3.8% as region adds more jobs

DUNCAN, British Columbia, Nov. 02, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the BC Check-Up: Work, an annual report by the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC) on employment trends across the province, the Vancouver Island/Coast's (excluding Greater Victoria) unemployment rate fell to 3.8 per cent in September 2022, down from 6.0 per cent in September 2021. 

"As Vancouver Island continued its economic recovery, employers significantly increased their workforces over the past year," said Woody Hayes, FCPA, FCA. "As a result, the region's unemployment rate was lower than in 2019 and employment growth outpaced population growth over that period."

As of September 2022, total employment across the Vancouver Island/Coast (excluding Greater Victoria) reached 225,500, a 5.9 per cent increase compared to September 2021. Since 2019, employment growth (+5.9 per cent) outpaced population growth (+4.6 per cent) in the region.

The region also saw its labour participation rate increase to 57.3 per cent, up 0.8 percentage points compared to September 2021, and about the same as in September 2019 (57.4 per cent).

"While it is good news to see significant job growth, the very low unemployment rate in the region has translated into employers facing rising labour shortages as the pool of available workers shrinks," continued Hayes. "The employment performance also varied by sector, and some industries continued to face challenges."

The service sector workforce grew to 178,100 positions in September 2022, a gain of 11,400 compared to September 2021. The increase was led by employment increases in health care (+36.4 per cent), professional services (+47.4 per cent), and information, culture, and recreation (+71.4 per cent) industries. However, the hospitality industry workforce declined by 44.7 per cent over that period.

Meanwhile, employment in the goods sector increased by 4.7 per cent over the past year, with recent job gains concentrated in the region's construction workforce (+29.2 per cent). However, goods sector employment remained 2.3 per cent smaller than in September 2019 due to manufacturing employment falling by 30.8 per cent over the past three years.

"Overall, our region outside of the south coast has one of the tightest job markets in the province with low unemployment and high job vacancies," concluded Hayes. "Going forward, it will be important to attract more workers and provide additional skills training for industries facing the greatest labour shortages. There is also an opportunity for the region to attract more remote workers to strengthen our economic outlook, but we must look at ways to improve housing affordability."

To learn more, see www.bccheckup.com. Data is from Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey, follows a moving three-month average and is not seasonally adjusted. Data derived from Vancouver Island & Coast employment statistics excluding Greater Victoria.

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About CPA British Columbia
The Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC) is the training, governing, and regulatory body for over 38,000 CPA members and 6,000 CPA students. CPABC carries out its primary mission to protect the public by enforcing the highest professional and ethical standards and contributing to the advancement of public policy. CPAs are recognized internationally for bringing superior financial expertise, strategic thinking, business insight, and leadership to organizations.