Bell Pumped Over Latest Job Numbers
Prince George, B.C.- British Columbia is now number one in the country when it comes to job growth.
Last month there were 2,322,600 people working in B.C., that’s 51,700 more compared to August of 2011.
It puts B.C. ahead of Alberta, Quebec and Ontario. Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Development Pat Bell says he can’t recall the last time that B.C. surpassed Alberta in terms of job growth. "We are very excited to be in the number one spot in Canada, it clearly exceeds all of our expectations. The Jobs Plan was introduced a year ago and we set a target of being number 2 in job growth in all of Canada, we’ve exceeded that target, we’ve pushed ahead of Alberta with 51,700 new jobs in the last month, it’s a great story to tell."
August was also a record breaker for Prince George, with 51,800 people working, Minister Bell says that is the highest number of employed people in Prince George, ever.
Bell notes that last month, there were 1,000 new jobs in forestry and mining. Year over year, that sector has created 10500 new jobs, an increase of 28% since August of 2011.
He says Prince George is solidifying its position as a hub for the resource sector. “I think the job growth we have seen in Prince George over the last year , year and a bit, is really reflective of the increase in the mining activity in places like Mount Milligan, the Endako mine expansion, the activity at Mount Polly.” Those projects are utilizing heavy equipment and materials supplied by Prince George companies, or are using Prince George companies for their construction projects “Prince George has really matured into an economic service centre for the regional economies in northern British Columbia.”
The only region in the entire Province that is not showing growth is the North West where the unemployment rate is 11.8%. But Bell says the situation in the north west as reported by Statistics Canada, doesn’t reflect what he and others are seeing in the region. He says his staff will be working with Statistics Canada to see if perhaps there is an anomaly in the data set.
“We continue to focus our attention on that area and we believe we will see job growth in that region in the coming months.”
The positives for that region include the redevelopment of an old grain terminal for Pinnacle Pellets shipping, Red Chris mine construction and LNG development.
It has been a year since his government introduced the Jobs Plan, which set targets of Bell is confident the positive numbers will continue, “I’m feeling very optimistic about the numbers going forward in the next year, and I am certainly very happy to see the job numbers. The first year of the Jobs Plan has been a great story.”
Comments
Great news oveall. I will be one of the new residents of the Northwest region of BC (specifically Smithers area) so am hoping Pat Bells prediction of job growth in this region will come tru (specifically for the mapping companies there).
The Cariboo region jumped from 8.1% to 8.6% unemployment, Good going Bell!!!
I get a kick out of these politicians who are all giggles over a 28% year-over-year increase in jobs but assume the numbers have been fudged when it shows unemployment higher than they’d like.
What a bunch of ultramaroons!
There would be far less unemployment if people south of Quesnel would come north to work! Still short thousands of workers north of PG, but 6 figures aren’t enough to draw the entitled ones north!
The population of Prince George is approx 75,000. So if 51,800 people are working that leaves 23,200 people not working. This would include people on assistance, retired people, married people who dont work, and of course some 15000 or people under the age of 16.
Sooooooo. I say the numbers are haywire. I suspect that they might be the numbers for the Regional District or some other variation.
As an example if you work in MacKenzie, Mount Milligan, Ft McMurray, Terrace, Kitimat, etc; but you live in Prince George does that mean that you would show up as having a job in Prince George??? Who knows. It would be interesting to see where these numbers come from.
Knowing Pat Bell you can bet that they would be inflated somewhat,.
I hear that many people are being laid off at Endako and Mt. Milligan now. So, when were these employment numbers calculated?
The fovorite words of a politcian,”I have a dream”.
Cheers
We also had the huge loss of jobs at Lakeland recently. Hmmmmmmm..
They have taken Endako employees over to Mt. Milligan, but are still 200 employees short! Nobody can pass the piss test!
Time to get that custom burger flipping apron made Pat!
China is in the process of a ponzi scheme unraveling and no doubt things will slow down as a result. Endako is a prime example as they’ve done a 180 in recent weeks. I suspect in the new year we will see a slow down in the forest industry as well… especially if the Russian wood starts to come online again.
The high growth areas in years to come are going to be the low debt areas with lots of room to leverage more growth. Places like Turkey and India and South America and Asia’s fastest growing economy the last two year in the Philippines.
If its about diversifying our customers, then the sole focus on China is a mistake, and our politicians have work to do yet.
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