B.C. job growth surges in September employment, growth, since, after, first, employment, growth, since, after, first

tiffiant

B.C. job growth surges in September

British Columbia's full time employment surged in September pulling the province's unemployment rate down to 6.7 per cent, the first notable employment gain since July 2010.

Employment rose by 32,000 positions in B.C., according to the latest labour figures from Statistics Canada.

All of the gains in B.C. were in full time work, as part time employment fell by 8 per cent, month over month.

September's employment gains in B.C. are significant, after a year of little change. Since September 2010, B.C. has added 35,000 jobs, including last month's gain. That's a 1.5 per cent increase over the last 12 months.

Employment growth across Canada in September was about four times more than what the experts were predicting.

There were 60,900 additional people employed last month, while economists had expected a gain of just 15,000.

The September nationwide unemployment rate fell to 7.1 per cent from 7.3 per cent in August. That's the lowest the jobless rate has been since December 2008.

Economists expected the rate to be unchanged last month.

Friday's positive report followed two months of stagnant job-market conditions in the country. There were 5,500 fewer people employed in August.

Breaking the numbers down by category, there were 63,800 more people with full-time jobs last month and 2,900 fewer considered part time.

The public-sector accounted for a gain of 36,900 workers, while there were 14,900 fewer in the private sector and 38,900 more people were self-employed.

Perhaps not surprisingly for the month September, most of the job gains came in the area of educational services. There were 38,000 additional people working in the category last month, Statistics Canada said.

Employment in education was up 20,000 from where it was in September last year.

Avery Shenfeld, chief economist with CIBC World Markets, noted how the education numbers also tend to skew the job numbers down at the end of the school year.

tiffiant

Noting the effect education had on the overall numbers, the decline in private-sector employment and losses in industries such as manufacturing that are often bellwethers of the overall economy, Shenfeld called the September jobs report "an impressive tally in the headlines, if not quite as much in the details."

Some of the other industries seeing job gains were accommodation and food services, natural resources and public administration. Besides manufacturing, declines were seen in sectors such as finance, insurance, real estate and leasing, and information, culture and recreation.

Service sectors in general saw employment an employment gain of 54,200 people, while there was a smaller rise of 6,600 people working goods-producing sectors.

Scotia Capital economists Derek Holt and Karen Cordes Woods were also skeptical of the employment trends, despite the strong overall gain.

"Details were much softer and more mixed in the report than the headline suggests on multiple counts," noting some of the same issues as Shenfeld as well as gains in the volatile self-employment category and the fact that hours worked last month declined 0.3 per cent.

British Columbia took the majority of the jobs growth. Ontario, with 12,700 job gains, and Alberta, with 8,600, accounted for most of the rest. The only provinces seeing declines were Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia.

BMO Capital Markets economist Robert Kavcic said the numbers are "warding off any concern that the Canadian labour market is enduring a material slowdown," adding that it is "good news in a period of economic uncertainty."

Still, Kavcic pointed out the rate of employment growth in Canada has slowed to an annualized rate of 1.2 per cent in the third quarter from 2.4 per cent in the first three months of this year.

"With economic growth expected to remain soft through year-end, look for employment growth to remain modest as well," he warned.

Statistics Canada said employment in September was up 1.7 per cent, or 294,000 people, from where it was a year earlier. Most of the gains have been in Ontario and Alberta, and in full-time employment.

with a file from Evan Duggan

tiffiant

The September unemployment rate fell to 7.1 per cent from 7.3 per cent in August. That's the lowest the jobless rate has been since December 2008.