B.C. leads Canada in job creation with stimulus program

British Columbia is leading the country in job creation, according to the latest employment figures, and the provincial government is giving the credit to its economic stimulus programs.

The number of people working in B.C. rose by 14,000 during September, cutting the unemployment rate by nearly half a percentage point to 7.4 per cent, according to a report released by Statistics Canada on Friday morning

Since March, 30,000 new jobs have been created in B.C., a gain of 1.3 per cent, but compared with September of 2008, overall employment is still down by 1.7 per cent.

Finance Minister Colin Hansen said the increase is in large part due to public projects that are part of the government's economic stimulus plan, and with the housing market showing signs of a turnaround, there is more reason for optimism.

"This is now the third consecutive month that we've seen good economic indicators, or at least a levelling out of some of the declines we had seen previously. So nobody has that crystal ball — I wish we did — but I think at least we are starting to see indicators that the worst of the recession is behind us," Hansen said.

B.C.'s unemployment rate remains a full percentage point below the national average of 8.4 per cent. Nationally, most of the jobs created in September were in the construction, manufacturing, finance and real estate industries.