Strong Canadian job growth continued in December as employment increased by 79,000 jobs. However, most of the job gains were concentrated in part-time work, which rose by 55,000 jobs. The the national unemployment rate fell 0.2 points to 5.7 per cent, the lowest level of unemployment since comparable data became available in 1976.  In the twelve months to December, employment in Canada was up 2.3 per cent, or 423,000 jobs. Strong fourth quarter job growth and historically low national unemployment will put extra pressure on the Bank of Canada to raise interest rates in 2018.

In BC, employment rose by 5,600 jobs, although full-time employment declined by 6,200 while part-time work was up 11,800.   The provincial unemployment rate fell 0.2 points to a Canada-wide low of 4.6 per cent. BC finished 2017 with employment growth of 3.6 per cent or 83,000 jobs.

Copyright British Columbia Real Estate Association. Reprinted with permission.