Prince George, B.C. – Good news on the job front in Prince George.

Statistics Canada says the unemployment rate was 5.8 per cent in July – down from 7.7 per cent in July 2016.

“Forty-nine thousand people were working in July compared to 48,000 in July 2016,” says analyst Andrew Fields.

In the Cariboo region, the devastating effects of the wildfire season haven’t shown through in the numbers yet, which reveal the unemployment rate was 6.6 per cent compared to 8.3 per cent last July.

“Three thousand more people were working with a growth of 3.8 per cent. 82,000 people were working in all,” he says.

Provincially, the unemployment rate dropped from 5.6 per cent in July 2016 to 5.3 per cent last month.

“There are 87,000 more people working with a job growth rate of 3.6 per cent year over year. It’s quite high, the highest in the country. B.C. seems to be booming,” says Fields.

As for the national scene, there were 11,000 new jobs created with a growth rate of 2.1 per cent. Meanwhile the unemployment rate was 6.3 per cent.

“That’s down .2 per cent from last month and the lowest since 2008 prior to the labour market downturn.”