Unemployment Rate Drops in Prince George
Prince George, B.C. – Encouraging news on the unemployment numbers for Prince George for June.
Last month there were more people working in the City , with 47,900 people on the job, compared to 46,800 in the same month a year ago.
That slight increase helped reduce the unemployment rate to 5.9%, down from the 7.7% recorded in June of 2016.
As for the Cariboo region ( which includes prince George), the unemployment rate was sitting at 6.9% last month compared to 7.8% in June of last year.
Stats Canada Labour analyst Vincent Ferrao says the decrease was largely due to increased employment in the service sector.
As for B.C., it is once again leading the country with the lowest unemployment rate among all provinces. The rate dropped to 5.1% last month, compared to 5.9% in June of 2016.
Nationally, the rate is sitting at 6.5%, down from the 6.8% recorded in the same month a year ago.
Comments
What they really mean is there are less people who can draw EI, not that less people are unemployed.
Amazing how data can be manipulated so the government looks good when in fact………….
No, what they mean is that the participation rate has decreased from 69.5% to 64.5 percent.
The unemployment statistics do not count the EI numbers, it is an active survey of population. No, they do not contact every person, they use the sample method.
population Prince George 2012, 70,000
participation rate 64.5 percent.
70000*64.5% = 45,150 either employed or seeking employment
45,150*5.9% (unemployment rate) = 2664 declared unemployed.
My result is slightly different from theirs because I used the local numbers, and I believe they used the regional population numbers. Otherwise, this is how it works.
The 5% decline in the participation rate over the last 4 years illustrates fewer are engaged in employment. Some have given up, some have moved, and some have fallen off the radar or fallen into the cracks.
Of course these numbers are not accurate by a long shot due to the government not being able to contact a segment of the population due to becoming undocumented, non-participating citizens, you might call them homeless. Have you noticed the number of camper vans running around town all year? Have you seen the cars parked in shaded places for long periods of the day with a person in it? I know of at least 5 individuals that have declared that they are “camped” in the BCR.
I remember when PG had over 53,000 employed… population has dropped about 20,000 since then though. I think the only reason we are seeing a drop in unemployment rates is because of a shift in demographics. The only demographic to grow over the last 30-years in PG has been the over 65 demographic… all the others are near half their historical highs.
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