Led by a surge in the number of people hired back in the hospitality industry in July as the economy reopened, Victoria’s unemployment rate slipped to 4.3 per cent last month, an improvement from the 5.6 per cent recorded in June and a massive change from July 2020, when it hit 11.6 per cent.
According to Statistics Canada’s monthly labour force survey, the accommodation and food services sector added 10,600 people over the past 12 months in Victoria. There were 18,800 people working in July compared with just 8,200 at the same time last year.
Educational services also saw a significant increase over that period with 21,100 people working in that sector last month, a jump from the 15,600 in July 2020, while the information, culture and recreation sector saw its number swell to 9,300 from 6,700 last year.
Provincial Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon said the numbers show B.C.’s recovery plan is working and the province continues to lead the country in recovery.
“We’re one of the only provinces that has a job recovery rate that is higher than pre-pandemic employment levels,” Kahlon said.
“We want to see that continue as we ease further restrictions and move further along in our recovery.”
According to the national number cruncher, B.C.’s unemployment rate hit 6.6 per cent in July, an improvement from the 6.9 per cent recorded in June of this year and the 12.6 per cent recorded in July 2020.
Kahlon noted the Island has seen a job recovery rate of 102.8 per cent, while the province as a whole has seen a rate of 100.5 per cent.
In July, there were 2.64 million people employed in B.C., up from the 2.63 million in June and the 2.37 million recorded in July last year.
To keep that going, the province announced a $2.5-million boost for the digital marketing bootcamp it launched last November.
The camp, which had been funded to the tune of $2 million, will now provide 3,400 more virtual training spaces for small businesses to get training that will help them adapt to the post-pandemic economy.
Kahlon said the bootcamp, valued at $6,000 but available at no cost to small businesses, will now allow nearly 6,000 businesses to improve digital-marketing skills.
The hope is the new skills will translate into access to new markets and better connection with consumers.
Kahlon said the pandemic forced businesses to shift and create or expand their online presence.
The labour force survey showed that Canada added 94,000 jobs in July as public health restrictions linked to the COVID-19 pandemic continued to be lifted.
That put the national unemployment rate at 7.5 per cent in July, compared with 7.8 per cent in June.
CIBC senior economist Royce Mendes said: “There’s not a whole lot to complain about when the economy creates almost 100,000 jobs in a month.”
“That’s a sign of recovery, but not a sign of mission accomplished.”
Canada is still 246,400 jobs, or 1.3 per cent, shy of pre-pandemic employment levels seen in February 2020.
Douglas Porter, BMO Capital Markets’ chief economist, predicted the country will see one more employment bump before it settles into a “long slog” as job gains tied to reopening dissipate and the economy begins to deal with the COVID-19 Delta variant more seriously.
He saw positive signs in the number of full-time positions added and the 1.3 per cent increase in total hours worked, though that figure was still 2.7 per cent below pre-pandemic levels.
“It will only take a few more reports like today’s to get employment all the way back to pre-pandemic highs,” Porter said in a note to investors. “But this is a sturdy step in the right direction.”
