As economic uncertainty continues to loom over B.C., the provincial unemployment reached six per cent in January 2025.
Figures from Statistics Canada released Friday (Feb. 7) show hat B.C.'s unemployment rate rose by 0.1 compared to December 2025. More people gained employment, but more were also looking for work. Compared to the same time last year, B.C.'s unemployment has risen by 0.7 per cent with the trendline heading upwards. For the past six months, provincial unemployment has hovered just below or at six per cent, including September 2024.
The provincial unemployment rate last exceeded six per cent in September 2021 when it hit 6.2 per cent on the way down from the COVID-19 high of 14 per cent in May 2020.
B.C., however, has been doing better than Canada as a whole and the latest January figures continue that trend. The national unemployment rate sitting at 6.6 per cent, which was down 0.1 per cent from the month before.
B.C.'s unemployment rate is also lower than neighbouring Alberta's (6.7 per cent) and Ontario's (7.6 per cent), but higher than Quebec (5.4 per cent), which is tied with Saskatchewan for the lowest unemployment rate among provinces.
Jobs in the professional, scientific and technical services gained the most with 9,800. The health and social assistance sector lost 10,100 jobs.
The figures reflect statistics collected before current U.S. president Donald Trump had threatened, then paused for 30 days the imposition of tariffs worth 25 per cent on all Canadian goods.
But these potential tariffs have shaped the political interpretations of the latest figures. B.C. Jobs Minister Diane Gibson said global uncertainty they caused threaten gains of 10,300 private-sector jobs in January. She also pointed to figures that show B.C. gained 8,700 manufacturing jobs, 6,100 retail jobs and 5,200 construction jobs.
"That's why we're taking action to defend B.C. jobs in the face of this threat," Gibson said in a statement.
She specifically pointed to her meeting last month with her provincial counterparts discussing ways to break down barriers between provinces.
"Right now, the provinces have conflicting regulations and rules, causing barriers to trade across the country," she said.
She also used the occasion to highlight the fast-tracking of various projects now and defend her government's record on creating private sector jobs, noting that B.C. has gained 178,900 private-sector jobs since July 2017.
Conservative MLA Gavin Dew (Kelowna-Mission), who shadows Gibson's ministry for his party, said the latest figures for January expose government's failure to grow the economy.
"While B.C. added 23,000 jobs in January, unemployment still rose to (six per cent), proving that job creation is not keeping pace with population growth," Dew said.
He also accused government of not doing enough to support private sector-growth, echoing a July 2024 report from the Business Council of British Columbia written by Chief Economist and Senior Vice President Ken Peacock.
That report finds that jobs in the private sector have grown at an average annual rate of 0.6 per cent over the past two years, the slowest of any class of worker in any province. It adds that the number of employees in B.C.香蕉视频直播檚 public sector has grown by an average annual rate of 5.2 per cent -香蕉视频直播� so nine times faster, according to the report.
B.C. recently signalled a greater focus on cutting regulations, while temporarily pausing external hiring for public service positions with exceptions for critical and front-line positions among others.
That move announced in late 2024 acknowledges a "constrained fiscal situation" in asking ministries to review "all staffing requirements and evaluate all existing competitions based on whether they fit within the temporary hiring pause parameters."
