VANCOUVER, October 29, 2024 - According to the latest BC Check-Up: Work report, an annual release by the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC) examining employment trends across the province, B.C.'s unemployment rate jumped to 6.0 per cent in September 2024, up from 5.5 per cent one year earlier.
"The B.C. labour market has continued to soften in 2024, leading to a three-year peak in the unemployment rate,” said Lori Mathison, FCPA, FCGA, LLB, president and CEO of CPABC. “This softening in the job market is occurring at the same time as significant population growth.”
Employment growth in B.C. was effectively flat on a year-over-year basis in September, with a 50,200-worker contraction between April and September 2024. For the full year, the province’s workforce increased by just 9,000 (+0.3 per cent) people compared to an increase in the working-age population of 156,700 people (+3.4 per cent) between September 2023 and September 2024.
As of July 2024, the latest month that data is available, B.C.’s job vacancy rate was 3.6 per cent matching a seven-year low that was first recorded in June. Employers were actively recruiting for just over 90,000 unfilled positions, down 22.0 per cent from the 115,700 vacancies recorded in July 2023.
Falling labour demand has also had an impact on labour compensation, as average wages grew by only 3.3 per cent in September, when compared to September 2023. By comparison, average wages were still growing at a strong 6.5 per cent when employment peaked in April 2024.
"This weakening of the job market is a stark contrast from where we were last year, or even just a few months ago,” noted Mathison. That said, it is important to recognize that the job market varies by region within BC, with some regions seeing much more strength.
The report also noted employment changes by sector over the longer term. As of September 2024, the private sector in B.C. was comprised of just under 1.8 million employees and 443,100 self-employed individuals; that represents growth of 0.9 per cent since before the pandemic in February 2020. In contrast, the public sector grew by 29.2 per cent relative to pre-pandemic levels in February 2020.
“Nearly all employment growth has come from the public sector, as we’ve seen dramatic increases in hiring for health care, education, and public administration over the last five years," concluded Mathison. “Looking ahead, policymakers should prioritize initiatives that encourage greater private sector investment in the province in order to spur job growth and create more opportunities for British Columbians.”
To learn more, see www.bccheckup.com.
About CPA British Columbia
The Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC) is the training, governing, and regulatory body for over 40,000 CPA members and 6,000 CPA candidates and students. CPABC carries out its primary mission to protect the public by enforcing the highest professional and ethical standards and contributing to the advancement of public policy.
CPABC Media Contact
Jack Blackwell, Economist
604.259.1143
news@bccpa.ca
