While many British Columbians loosened their purse strings last month as the province transitioned into Step 3 of its reopening plan, those loosened restrictions did not translate into more jobs.
In fact, the province lost 3,100 jobs in July, according to data released Friday from Statistics Canada. While full-time employment increased by 3,300 jobs, those gains were negated by the loss of 6,500 part-time positions.
Losses were mainly confined to two sectors: information/culture/recreation (-12,100 jobs) and manufacturing (-10,900 jobs).
Statistics Canada’s information/culture/recreation bucket is associated with the province’s film and TV sector, which saw some local crews temporarily wrap production on television series last month.
Meanwhile, gains were made in healthcare (+7,700 jobs) and construction (+4,300 jobs).
Despite shedding 3,100 jobs, the province’s unemployment rate remained static compared with a month earlier at 6.6%. Only Manitoba (6.1%) and Quebec (6.1%) have lower unemployment rates.
Nationally, the unemployment rate fell 0.3 percentage points to 7.5% in July, while Canada as a whole added 94,000 jobs.
Prior to the pandemic, the nation’s unemployment rate stood at 5.7%.
“Today's jobs report may have been a bit shy of lofty expectations, but we would still give this report a solid silver medal. Strength in full-time positions (and thus hours worked), and broad-based gains (i.e., not just hospitality) are positive signals,” BMO chief economist Douglas Porter said in a note, referring to national numbers.
“Looking ahead, there will likely be one more seriously strong result for the current month and then employment gains will likely settle into a long slog — after the reopening gains are done, and the global economy will be dealing with Delta. But this is a sturdy step in the right direction.”
TD senior economist echoed Porter's concerns about growing headwinds.
“Concerns around the Delta variant are rising and some countries, harder hit by the virus, are re-imposing restrictions. Canada has not yet been compelled to do so due to low hospitalization levels, but cases are rising,” he said.
“While the impressive vaccination drive should keep hospitalization rates low, health worries could dent consumer and business confidence. Indeed, the economy's path forward will be closely linked to evolution of the pandemic.”
RBC economist Rannella Billy-Ochieng also noted that as competition for talent builds up, Canada should be on the watch for signs of emerging wage pressures.
“We also see the economy gaining steam in the third quarter, but see a slower pace of progress come autumn. The uptick in the virus that we've baked into our forecasts will create challenges for the private sector and public officials,” Royce Mendes, senior economist at CIBC, said in a note.
“That said, we are sticking to the view that the economy can maintain its forward momentum throughout that period.”
