B.C. shed 12,400 jobs between April and May, according to Statistics Canada.
The statistics agency reported June 8 that the unemployment rate for the West Coast province dropped from 5% to 4.8% between those two months as more residents left the workforce.
“While the province still maintains the lowest jobless rate in Canada (4.8%), employment growth has quickly fallen from the top of the leaderboard to just +0.1% [year over year],” BMO senior economist Robert Kavcic said in a note to investors.
“Ontario is now the job growth leader [+1.8% year-over-year growth].”
On a national level Canada lost 7,500 jobs in May on a month-to-month basis, while the unemployment rate remained at 5.8% for the fourth consecutive month.
“The May employment report was a bit of [a] stinker, but stepping back shows a labour market that is pretty tight, with some upward wage pressure,” Kavcic said.
“Add in some other strong indicators this week, and the Bank of Canada should be on track to raise rates next month barring more fallout on the trade front.”
