Michelle Mungall, Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Competitiveness, has issued the following statement on the release of Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey for August 2020:

“The monthly labour force numbers for August show that B.C.’s safe restart plan continued to make positive job gains for the fourth month in a row, with 15,300 jobs created in British Columbia last month – 87% of which were full-time jobs.

“Family-supporting jobs in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors also made a strong comeback in August, with more than 6,000 people finding work in each of those sectors.

“Added to the employment gains we saw in May, June and July, B.C. has now recovered 246,900 jobs, and total employment now stands at 94% of the pre-pandemic level in February.

“Meanwhile, our province’s unemployment rate fell for the third month in a row to 10.7%, but we still have a long way to go as many British Columbians are still struggling.

“Our focus on restarting B.C.’s economy in a safe, responsible manner has strongly supported our efforts to battle the pandemic as well as get our economy back on its feet. We are committed to building a recovery that works for everyone, and the next steps in B.C.’s recovery plan will be announced later this month.

“I continue to be impressed by how resilient people in our province have been, both in responding to the virus and in supporting our businesses and workers. We are making progress together.”

Learn More:

For information on services and benefits available to help people and businesses through the pandemic, visit: www.gov.bc.ca/COVIDgovernmentbenefits

For non-health related information, including financial, child care and education supports, travel, transportation and essential service information, visit: www.gov.bc.ca/Covid-19
Or call 1 888 COVID19 (1 888 268-4319) between 7:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. (Pacific time), seven days a week.