The Canadian economy added 14,000 jobs in May, including a 61,000 increase in full-time employment which was mostly offset by declining part-time work. If not for the wildfires in Alberta, which saw 24,000 jobs lost last month, May's employment growth would have been even stronger. Solid job gains in recent months and a drop in the number of people looking for work pushed the national unemployment rate lower by 0.2 points to 6.9 per cent  Total hours worked, which is closely associated with economic growth, increased by 0.8 per cent over the past 12 months. 

Employment in BC declined by 8,400 jobs in May, the first month of negative job growth in 2016 following four months of gains. On a year-over-year basis, employment was 3 per cent higher compared to May 2015 and year-to-date employment is up 3.2 per cent in 2016. The provincial unemployment rate increased 0.3 points to 6.1 per cent.

Copyright British Columbia Real Estate Association. Reprinted with permission.