Construction slowdown leaves B.C. with net 22,000 job losses

The latest employment figures show B.C. lost more than 22,000 jobs net in March, the most for any province in the country.

B.C.'s unemployment rate now stands at 7.4 per cent, up from 6.7 per cent in February, but still below the national average of eight per cent.

The biggest job losses in B.C. were in construction, which shed 16,000 jobs — while 6,000 were lost in manufacturing.

White collar workers did not escape. About 8,500 jobs were lost in the finance, insurance, real estate and leasing sector, plus another 5,400 in information, culture and recreation.

Not all the news was bad, however. Some sectors showed significant employment gains, such as accommodation and food services (7,200), transportation and warehousing (3.700), and business, building and other support services (2,500).

Overall, B.C. has lost 73,000 jobs in the past 12 months, but the provincial government maintains the province is a good place to weather the current economic storm.

Minister of Economic Development Ida Chong said more jobs are coming, thanks to the government's public infrastructure spending plan.           

"Many projects have just been announced, they are just hitting the ground now, so of course our March numbers don't reflect that. We need to ensure that those projects that have been approved start actually creating those jobs and getting people back to work," Chong said on Thursday morning.

Jim Sinclair of the B.C. Federation of Labour wonders when those jobs will materialize.

"People are upset. They feel abandoned. And they want this government to stop looking just at the Lower Mainland and start looking at the rest of the province to solve the problems."