B.C.’s labour market is still moving at a clip, adding 10,500 jobs in March for the eighth straight month of gains.
But Friday’s latest data from Statistics Canada saw some sign significant see-sawing between different sectors.
Transportation/warehousing (+9,200 jobs), “other services” (+9,200 jobs) and positions related to the tech sector (+5,200 jobs) led the way last month, while education (-7,100 jobs) and manufacturing (-6,500 jobs) experienced notable losses.
Curiously, education was among the sectors to post the biggest gains just one month earlier, having added 8,800 jobs in February.
Statistics Canada makes data estimates based on surveys of random Canadians and extrapolates broader numbers from that.
B.C.’s unemployment rate moved up 0.2 percentage points to 5.1 per cent as more people entered the workforce.
Meanwhile, employment across Canada grew by 73,000 jobs with the unemployment rate falling 0.2 percentage points to 5.3 per cent – the lowest level since at least 1976, according to RBC estimates.
The nation’s job count now sits at 442,000 positions above pre-pandemic levels.
“With the unemployment rate so low, virtually all industries are bumping up against labour shortages, including those hospitality sectors that have yet to fully recover. Wages are showing more signs of drifting higher, with average hourly earnings up 3.4 per cent year-over-year in March, up from 3.1 per cent in February,” Nathan Janzen, RBC asst. chief economist, said in a note.
BMO chief economist Douglas Port echoed Janzen’s sentiments, noting “the key takeaway is just how tight the job market now is, and that the employment recovery is now complete.”
TD senior economist James Orlando also sees the latest job numbers pushing up wage growth in the coming months.
“There is a lot of room for wages to catch up as Canadian's have seen their purchasing power eroded alongside the rapidly rising cost of living,” he said in a note.
