B.C. added 5,700 jobs to the workforce in March, although the gains came at the expense of full-time positions.
The province boosted part-time jobs by 11,300 last month at the same time 5,700 full-time jobs were lost, according to Statistics Canada data released April 10.
Despite the big loss in full-time jobs, the province’s unemployment rate fell from 6% in February to 5.8% in March.
Canada, meanwhile, added 28,700 jobs in March but the national unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.8% as more people entered the workforce.
Similar to B.C., the gains across Canada were led by additional part-time jobs (56,800) at the same time 28,200 full-time jobs were lost.
“The rise in employment in March was encouraging. Despite the positive print in overall employment in the natural resource sector in March, 19,400 jobs were cut in the first quarter of 2015, and we anticipate the weakness in the energy sector will continue in the months ahead,” Dawn Desjardins, asst. chief economist at RBC Economics, wrote in a note to investors.
“Therefore, it will be increasingly important that job creation in non-energy industries continues to compensate.”
Desjardins added no effects from the Target layoffs were seen in March, as 20,000 more people found jobs in retail and wholesale. The retail giant announced in January it would be closing all 133 Canadian outlets and dismissing 18,000 workers.
But BMO chief economist Douglas Porter said in an investors’ note the Target layoffs will become more of a challenge for the economy further into spring.
He added the second quarter should be rosier “given less miserable weather and the fact that much of the oil sector weakness was front-loaded into Q1.”
