B.C. dropped 5,500 jobs in August, says StatCan report

The province's unemployment rate has risen to 6.5 per cent from 6.2 per cent in July, led in part by lost jobs in construction. Photo by NAV RAHI /AFP via Getty Images

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Recent job losses in B.C. are indicative of the weak private-sector investment environment that has dogged the economy, as well as the departure of increasing numbers of temporary residents, according to a local economist.

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Statistics Canada’s August report showed that B.C. shed a net 5,500 jobs in August, with the biggest losses in education, retail and wholesale trade, as well as construction, offsetting public-sector gains in health care and public administration. That pushed the province’s unemployment rate up to 6.5 per cent from 6.2 per cent in July.

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“I think it is just a reflection of how our economy has performed over the last year (or) two,” said Bryan Yu, chief economist at Central 1 Credit Union. “We have had very little private-sector investment, and we had very little private-sector business growth as well.”

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Yu added that B.C. is one of two provinces, along with Ontario, most affected by losses in population due to changes in immigration policy, which is also starting to drag on the economy.

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Yu said economists are cautious about drawing conclusions from a single month of data from the employment report, but the 6,300 jobs lost in B.C.’s educational services sector is likely due to the shift in population numbers.

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The population factor would also reflected in lower retail sales, contributing to the 3,800 job losses in the retail and wholesale trade sector.

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Acting Jobs Minister Adrian Dix said B.C.’s performance relative to other provinces is demonstrating “steady strength and resilience” in light of the economic challenges the country faces, including tariffs and trade tension with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.

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Dix said while Canada lost a net 42,000 jobs overall, B.C.’s loss of 5,500 was the lowest among provinces, and comes after a three-month stretch in which the province added almost 51,000 jobs.

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He added that Trump’s trade policy has put “a target on our forestry sector that is having a real impact,” which is why B.C. is working with Ottawa on business supports and pushing major projects forward.

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B.C.’s forestry sector has experienced several mill closures in the past year and has borne the brunt of a lot of the province’s job losses, Yu said. In August, the jobs report showed 2,600 fewer jobs in the natural resources sector, which includes forestry.

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Year-over-year, employment in the natural resources category declined by 17.2 per cent, according to the report, representing some 7,400 jobs.

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“We’re trying to tease out some of these data, and it is likely going to be that the forestry side is taking that hit right now,” Yu added. “It really is consistent, I think, with what we’re seeing around mill closures and the general weakness and decline in production.”

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Outside of forestry, slow growth in private-sector investment has been a longer-term trend that predates Trump’s tariffs, according to Jairo Yunis, the policy director for the Business Council of B.C.