Prince George, B.C.- The  unemployment rate in Prince George in March  was 5.7%.That is  up from the 4.5% mark  registered in the same month  a year ago.  Statistics Canada analyst  Vincent Ferrao says the  increase  is due to a  slight increase in the labour force.

For the Cariboo region,   which includes  Prince George,  the  unemployment rate  was 6.7%.  That’s up  from 5.5% in march of last year.  Ferrao  says the job losses were primarily in the retail and wholesale sector.

Provincially,  the rate inched up to 6.5%  from the 5.9% of March of 2015.

Nationally, the rate  is sitting at 7.1%,  up slightly from the 6.8% recorded in the same month a year ago.