B.C. still outpacing federal job market

June 12, 2025

B.C.’s job market is still growing — albeit slowly — in the face of tariffs, while federal job numbers stagnate.

“It’s a really good news story for us relative to what they’re seeing across Canada, but that doesn’t mean we’re complacent.”

B.C. added 13,000 jobs in May, but several other provinces shed jobs, according to the latest Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey released on Friday, June 6. Canada added 8,800 jobs nationally in May. Quebec lost 17,000 jobs, which helped drag down the federal number.

“Business doesn’t like uncertainty, and definitely it’s having an impact.”

The federal unemployment rate rose 0.1 per cent to seven per cent, and the employment rate remained steady at 60.8 per cent. This is the highest unemployment rate since 2016, excluding the pandemic.

In B.C., the employment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 61.3 per cent, but the unemployment rate also rose by 0.2 per cent to 6.4 per cent due to population growth and increased participation in the labour force.

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