British Columbia

The employment rate is steady in British Columbia

• The employment rate in British Columbia has hovered around 60% since 1989, avoiding the drop experienced by several other provinces during the early 1990s recession. In 2003, after a 0.7-percentage point increase, the employment rate reached 60.1% as a result of a 2.5% job growth (+50,000) from 2002 to 2003.
• After two years of declines, employment in the forestry, fishing, mining, oil and gas sector increased by nearly 8,000 from 2002 to 2003. Healthy job gains were also seen in manufacturing (+9,000) as well as in the finance, insurance, real estate and leasing sector (+8,000). However, accommodation and food services, and health care and social assistance each saw a decline of 6,000 jobs, partially offsetting gains in other sectors.
• The unemployment rate in British Columbia has been consistently above the national average since 1998. After two consecutive annual increases, the rate dropped to 8.1% (-0.4 percentage point) in 2003. The participation rate climbed to 65.4%, as more people entered the labour force.

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