Canadian employment grew by 32,000 jobs in March, driven by mostly full-time gains while the national unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.8 per cent. Over the past 12-months, employment in Canada is up by close to 300,000 jobs while total hours worked is up 2.2 per cent.  For the first quarter, however, employment is down 40,000 jobs due large job losses to start the year.

In BC, employment fell by 3,900 jobs as a surge in full-time employment (up almost 24,000 jobs) was offset by falling part-time employment. Overall, the level of employment in BC has been trending sideways for several months and was up just 1.3 per cent year-over-year in March. The provincial unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.7 per cent.

Copyright British Columbia Real Estate Association. Reprinted with permission.