P.G. Unemployment Hit 7.9% Last Month
Prince George, B.C. – There were 4,000 people unemployed last month in Prince George, up from 2,900 unemployed in February of 2016.The unemployment rate in Prince George was 7.9% in February compared to 5.8% in the same month a year ago.
Labour analyst Vincent Ferrao with Statistics Canada says a combination of a larger work force ( 50,600 compared to 49,700 of a year ago) and declines in food services and manufacturing last month in Prince George are behind the increase in the rate.
For the Cariboo region, which includes Prince George, the unemployment rate last month was 9.7%, up from 7.4% in February of 2016.
Provincially, B.C.’s rate was 5.1%, the lowest among all provinces, and the lowest it has been since October of 2008. In February of last year, the unemployment rate was 6.5%.
Nationally, the rate was 6.6%, down from 7.2% in the same month a year ago. That 6.6% matched the rate of January 2015 and is the lowest mark since October of 2008.
Comments
And I know a guy who quit his job and brags about the cheques he receives for doing nothing except dragging taxpayers down! So there are a bunch of no minds that do not want to work, simple as that. Make getting UI more difficult with more stringent guidelines! Easy to remedy. I expect Been Human to enter his post soon about the poor individuals who are down and out and deserve it! Tough! LOL
If he quit his job I don’t think it would be very easy to collect UI.
That’s correct. You’re not eligible for EI if you quit but maybe his employer put it down as a lay off?
That is why they have to make it more tighter, somehow he found a loophole! He was walked out of the establishment, so not exactly let go. If they spent as much time trying to stay out of work as trying to get a career going unemploymebt rates would drop. LOL
maybe he went all the way and is now collecting welfare?
Why is it we always look at it the way you’re doing? First of all there are way more serious issues “…dragging the taxpayers down” than paying some bum who doesn’t want to work EI. And if he doesn’t want to work why force him on some poor employer who’s looking for people who DO want to work? I’ve been an employer for close to 50 years now, and I can tell you there is nothing more poisonous to a workplace than having such people in it. I was an employee before starting my own business, and even having to work with those kind of people is a lost cause. Far better to retire such types permanently, they’re simply more a detriment to production than any asset in assisting it. Which brings me to the statistics above. What are we actually short of because 9% of the workforce is ‘officially’ unemployed? Store shelves running bare? No cars on the dealer’s lots? Clothing stores down to the last few rags? Lumber yards running empty? WHAT? Do we really NEED to have 100% full employment to produce and deliver all the goods and services we require and desire? If that’s the case we must be one helluva inefficient country. Barely clinging to life by the skin of our eyebrows. Impending famine and scarcity and deprivation everywhere. Where’s the evidence of that? Isn’t it more the case that we have a GLUT of ‘production’ of virtually everything, and making MORE of it, just to provide and excuse to pay someone an income is patently ridiculous on any kind of an actual basis? Time we kicked off this stupid notion that we NEED everyone not only working, but working longer and harder. What we do need is a better way of distributing ~ NOT, be it noted RE-distributing ~ incomes. So what we do produce, made by those who DO want to work, can be fully accessed for consumption.
So true. We use to get organizations offering to pay part of the wages of an “unemployable” person, and we still wouldn’t hire them because a toxic employee doesn’t help, they get in the way.
And I agree, we produce more than we consume, so we need a class of consumers that don’t produce, and sadly, we then bash them for being lazy. But when you look at a certain segment of our population, they seem to have been almost groomed to be a perpetual consumer without every producing and you’ve got to wonder if it’s deliberate.
Why can’t all of us work 25 hours a week, have full employment, but make less stuff.
Take a look at the dumpster behind save on foods – lots of unconsumed food.
That is why they have to make it more tighter, somehow he found a loophole! He was walked out of the establishment, so not exactly let go. If they spent as much time trying to stay out of work as trying to get a career going unemploymebt rates would drop. LOL
Yup, that would be Lien caught in another lie, but hey, who’s counting? At least my researched comments are factual and contain referenced sources to back them up!
But just in case he is not lying, hey Lien, any explanation as to how a friend of your’s can quit a job and still collect UI? That’s a form of fraud is it not? Hey ICBC fraud investigators; over here come read Lien’s comment, and please do follow up with an investigation.
Did you read axman’s post? I have heard of employers doing just that.
Yep BH in another lie. ICBC investigators??? As an employer it is shocking how many former employees who quit or where fired are still eligible for EI benefits. I get calls weekly from EI inquiring about former employees who quit who are now looking for benefits. I ask the EI person why they would be eligible for benefits if they left a well paying job on their own accord and the answer is question is never really answered. You can quit a job and still get EI benefits. BH stick to commenting on something you have knowledge on, I guess that would leave you unable to comment.
How is your mine claim coming along under Christie’s house?
Why would ICBC investigate EI fraud BH?
And as you say “My god woman, do you even known what you are even talking about?”
And here is your link
ht tp://www.250news.com/2017/03/04/province-reaches-tentative-deal-with-bctf/
No offence there slim, but I did report one person who used to vacation in the south then come back to college t! This was a few years ago, nothing was done then, I just find it amazing that so many able bodied young people out there aren’t looking for work! I know an individual in his 50s that was getting work sometimes, he took a few minor courses and went to work on the pipeline, he showed initiative as he does have a family to support. Kudos to these kinds of people!
slinky I had just made an excellent researched comment on the ICBC story, so it was a mental slip up. No biggie, but thanks for pointing out the error.
EI is not living off the hog.. I’m sure people with mortgages are struggling.. I always thought they (GovT) was a rip off)when it came to EI… Those that needed it out of no choice of their own are given a rough time when they apply. Just my opinion
EI does come to an end. So when it runs out these individuals have to find a job to keep the wolf from the door.Quite a few recipients are seasonal workers, especially here in the north. This is a decade old practice work get laid off go on UI about as long as I can remember. So when someone is eligible for employment doesn’t exactly mean they can find a job. Some people are over qualified…some under qualified. Depends on what the employer is looking for. OH I suppose one could take a job being a store front greeter but Lien do not apply because with your attitude you are under qualified!
Totally agree with what you sad, there are people that definitely need it, and I hope all turns out well. But it is another gov’t program that does have loopholes just like welfare being obscenely used in the wrong way for some slackers!
Hey icey, I am a retiree! I worked over 35 years in the justice department, and I worked, just for the heck of it, 5 years at a local big box store. So I been there and done that! And yes I was over qualified, and yes I got to look at the retail industry and my hats are off to those people in that industry. So I did do a minimum wage job loading bricks and dirt and I thoroughly enjoyed it! What is you excuse? LOL! P. S. As for store greeter I also did that for a bit. So I covered all bases! My attitude is quite fine, I just am not a social worker who wants to save everybody! I saw the negative, violent side of life in general, so my views are more black and white.
nt
Totally agree with what you sad, there are people that definitely need it, and I hope all turns out well. But it is another gov’t program that does have loopholes just like welfare being obscenely used in the wrong way for some slackers!
I take it that you were in corrections…yes you do get to see the darker side of human beings. I for one couldn’t do it. Actually know quite a few people from corrections. Some went on stress leave…some early retirement…some made a good career out of it. Tough…tough job! Yes I have worked retail and wholesale once upon a time, dealings with a lot of interesting people. Just like to see the good in people, but if you look hard enough you will find a spark of good! I do not like someone abusing any program. Sometimes a person has to hit rock bottom before they pick themselves off the floor and try to regain some form of dignity. If ui is available to someone who needs it then I don’t have a problem with them getting it. Did you know that if you attend school or anything for that matter they say you weren’t available for work. To me this doesn’t make sense..you are trying to better yourself for employment and they will not pay you for upgrading???
This is a map of the EI Region of Northern British Columbia, go to it and see that it covers at least half of the physical land mass of British Columbia.
ht tp://srv129.services.gc.ca/eiregions/eng/northbc.aspx
Anyone care to guess what the unemployment rate is for our Northern British Columbia EI Region over the past month? The unemployment rate for our region was 12.8%. So when Palopu, myself, and others say it is bad up here… it is that bad! The rest of BC, outside the lower mainland, is hurting and the numbers don’t lie.
ht tp://srv129.services.gc.ca/eiregions/eng/rates_cur.aspx
“The unemployment rate for our region was 12.8%” .. OR the EMPLOYMENT numbers for our region are 87.2% which means 8.7 people out of 10 employables are working, not bad in my books. Also traditionally in north central BC this time of year the unemployment numbers jump because a lot of logging shows are shutting down for spring breakup.
A nice attempt at trying to minimize a really bad situation up here Bent. Anytime unemployment figures hit double digits, it’s bad by any government’s standard.
As for your attempt to explain away the high unemployment rate for the region as being because of breakup… you might want to consider that the 12.8% unemployment number is for the period covering February 12, 2017 to March 11, 2017 (last month). So where in the Northern Region of BC is spring breakup for logging in the middle of winter?
“So where in the Northern Region of BC is spring breakup for logging in the middle of winter?” .. Since I spent a good portion or my working life in the bush I know quite a few people still employed there and some are finished for the winter because crews are cut back and quotas are met and blocks are being finished up anytime after March to actual breakup. And as socredible said, if 8 out of 10 people can’t keep the economic engine running then something has to change. If you are of the mindset you MUST work JUST BECAUSE that’s what people are supposed to do then you will probably be one of those people who will hang on and on before retiring and opening up a position to someone younger. A 12% unemployment rate is not that alarming unless it continues to go down, but it has been going up and down a percentage point or 2 for at least the past 2 decades, why should this time in history be any different?
Your “well researched” copy and paste effort again!!!!!
How many “unemployed” actually don’t want to work? It is a much higher number than you will ever admit to.
In my circle of acquaintances, friends, contacts I know of but 3 who are unemployed. Of those 3, 3 do not want work at this moment, and I am going to get roasted by this comment, all 3 are of native decent.
Fire away.
I back you up, it is just a coincidence buddy! But there are do gooders out there that will snivel! Tough, you are just stating something, nothing more and nothing less!
Meh, Stompin Tom, why would anyone give you a hard for having a good imagination?
In my circle of acquaintances, I know two recently arrived Syrian Refugees who have already found some good paying jobs, but two of my other acquaintances, who happen to be unemployed white guys, are complaining about these two foreigners coming in and taking what should be their jobs. Of course the two unemployed white guys want the two Syrian Refugees deported.
Time are “tuff”, with so little jobs to go around, these kinds of things happen I guess.
BeingHuman,
You just dont get it, times are not tuff. There are many who are doing very well, then there are a few who are not.
I live in a world of natural evolution, not everyone can be at the top of the food chain. You live in a world where you feel everyone should have everything and anything handed to them for nothing.
I understand that everything you want and need come at a price, you live in a world where you believe everyone should be handed anything they want regardless of cost.
I do not know of one person who puts an effort into finding a job, doing what it takes to make themselves valuable to an employer who does not have a job. I do know people who think they are entitled to a job who can not find one who sit on their ass’s and cry about it.
How can this possibly be happening . With the intersection being PG two high powered MPs and two even more powerful MLAs working tirelessly for their respective ridings . PG and areas should be flourishing . Where there’s smoke , there are mirrors . And sometimes photo ops . Who needs good ideas from Andrew and the Green Party , when those other four have such a stellar track record of making high paying jobs appear .
They sure have created an amazing number of lobbyist jobs . The best government big money can buy .
Read the story, more people in the local workforce makes a few percentage points difference. These are all educated guesses based on surveys
If things were going good in North Central BC the Liberals would be telling us all about it, blowing their horns, puffing up there chests, whooping and laughing, and passing out the hot dogs. That’s not happening.
It not happening because we have some serious problems in North Central BC and the Liberals don’t want to discuss this subject.
We know that we have lost a lot of timber because of the beetle kill. We also know that when they announce the Annual Allowable Cut (Which I expect will be after the election) we will see just how short we are for fibre, and then we will get an indication of how many more mills will be closing down.
In addition we still have mine closures to contend with, and if China does not turn its economy around, they will remain closed.
So, all the Liberals can do at this time is avoid the subject, and talk in broad terms about the economy even though they know for a fact that most of the new jobs are low paid, and in the Greater Vancouver area.
As the election ramps up, we will see what they can come up with. My guess is that it will be a big zero.
Anything from 6-8% should be considered ‘full employment’. Some people don’t want to work, some are unemployable.
For the entire Northern half of our province what would nearly 13% unemployment mean?
The would mean that 13% of the people better get off their asses and better themselves to make them more valuable to an employer to get a job. Of course we know a high number of those 13% either dont want to work, are simply lazy or are self entitled twits who think things should be handed to them.
If I chose to live in Fort Ware and can not find a job there, either I have to decide if living there with no job is better for me than moving somewhere else where their is work to better myself. That is a personal choice.
You are right about the Fort Ware example, and its happening in the North half of BC, almost every small town up here is losing people, they are moving out of the region, and probably the province, to look for work.
How ironic, as one of the false claims about the NDP being in power during the 1990’s was that under their government people left BC in droves, not true of course but it is true for the northern half of BC under this BC Liberal Government. How bad is it?
Vanderhoof: 2016: 4,439 2011: 4,480 Population decline: -41
Fort St. James: 2016: 1,598 2011: 1,691 Population decline: -93
Fraser Lake: 2016: 988 2011: 1,167 Population decline: -179
Burns Lake: 2016: 1,779 2011: 2,029 Population decline: -250
Houston: 2016: 2,993 2011: 3,147 Population decline: -154
Quesnel: 2016: 9,879 2011: 10,007 Population decline: -128
Williams Lake: 2016: 18,277 2011:18,490 Population decline: -213
Chetwynd: 2016: 2,503 2011: 2,635 Population decline: -132
Valemount: 2016: 1,020 2011: 1,021 Population decline: -1
There will never be full, 100 percent employment. There will always be a population segment that is not employed. Bear in mind that the participation rate is the number engaged in employment, so almost a third of our population is not even in the game. These could be the chronically sick, the retired, the physically challenged, and the “free living”. There are those that can’t as well as those that just won’t.
In addition, all employment services are ramped up or scaled back according to a given rate scale. This is partially political will, motivated by trending news, social media or policy, or both.
Below, I have a rough calculation of the local statistics from the workbc website today, to illustrate how they got their number in the article.
Cariboo
Latest numbers from this region in January 2017
Total population (Age 15+) 127,900
Unemployment rate 8.8 %
In Prince George 8.1 %
Total Employment 80,300
pg 2012 population 70,000
participation rate for bc 69.5%, 48,650
unemployment rate pg (wbc.ca) 8.1%
total unemployed 3,940
The unemployment rate is just one factor. The lack of any new investment in North Central BC. and the probability of more mills being shut because of the fibre, supply and US duties on Canadian lumber creates some big challenges.
We have been in a downward spiral for some time now, and it appears that it will get worse.
Personally I think that the Liberals for all intents and purposes have written us off.
We need a concerted effort by the Federal, Provincial, Regional, and Municipal Governments to get off their collective asses quit foolishly spending our money, and start to implement programs and legislation that would allow business to flourish as unfettered as possible by Government red tape.
As things now stand, it seems that our role in life is to work and pay taxes so that Government and Civil services can enjoy great salaries, and benefits, while we go from steak, to hamburger, to pork and beans, to macaroni, to cat food.
Governments to-day seem to think they are an entity onto themselves, and look down on us from their house on the hill, and hum and hah, drink their wine, and burp.
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