Unemployment Rate Doubles In 2020 In BC Due To Pandemic
39,100
...is the exact number of jobs lost in British Columbia in one year from December 2019 to December 2020 due to the pandemic. The worst period was between December 2019 and April 2020 where the Province lost 406,300 jobs in only five months .
British Columbia's labour market is slowly recovering, but...
It can be seen with the data provided by the below table that BC's labour market was really impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, we observe a dramatic decrease in jobs in BC between February and May 2020, which can be directly related with the restriction measures taken in spring by the government, with all the economy slowing down all of a sudden.
April 2020 is the month when is registered the strongest decline in the number of jobs in British Columbia:
- Indeed, this number goes from 2,376,300 jobs in March 2020 to 2,128,300 jobs in April 2020
- This represents a total of 248,000 jobs lost in only one month !
- An overall 10.44% of all British Columbia's jobs were lost during this only month.
| Months | Total number of jobs in British Columbia | Monthly change rate |
|---|---|---|
| Dec. 2019 | 2,534,600 | / |
| Jan. 2020 | 2,505,800 | - 1.14% |
| Feb. 2020 | 2,510,900 | + 0.2% |
| Mar. 2020 | 2,376,300 | -5.36% |
| Apr. 2020 | 2,128,300 | - 10.44% |
| May 2020 | 2,197,200 | + 3.24% |
| Jun. 2020 | 2,340,700 | + 6.53% |
| Jul. 2020 | 2,404,200 | + 2.71% |
| Aug. 2020 | 2,407,500 | + 0.14% |
| Sep. 2020 | 2,453,000 | + 1.89% |
| Oct. 2020 | 2,487,700 | + 1.41% |
| Nov. 2020 | 2,497,200 | + 0.38% |
| Dec. 2020 | 2,495,500 | - 0.07% |
We can see that the trend is starting to become positive from May 2020, with a clear growth between April and May 2020 (+3.24%). Starting in May, the employment growth rate in British Columbia continues to rise and remains stable in November and December 2020 (respectively +0.38% and -0.07%).
However, as of December 2020, more than 39,100 jobs are still missing in British Columbia in comparison with one year ago.
Unemployment: where does British Columbia stand in comparison with the rest of Canada?
As we can see on the graph below, British Columbia is the most impacted province by the pandemic in Canada, when considering unemployment levels. Indeed:
- British Columbia is the province where the unemployment rate grew the most in Canada between the end of 2019 and the end of 2020
- As a matter of fact, its unemployment rate had doubled between the fourth trimester of 2019 and the third trimester of 2020. It went from 4.9% to 10% in less than a year.
- As a result, BC is no more the Canadian province where the unemployment rate is the lowest. Now Quebec holds that record.
Unemployment rate from the last trimester of 2019 to the third trimester of 2020 across Canada's provinces (Source: Statistics Canada)
The Atlantic provinces continue to have the highest unemployment rate, with 10.8% at the end of 2020 - 2.2 points higher than a year earlier.
The job market in British Columbia city per city
In the below table, we observe that Vancouver and Abbotsford-Mission are by far, the cities where the unemployment rate is the highest in British Columbia (8.1%) as of November 2020. This represents approximately 122,600 people unemployed for Vancouver and 8,600 for Abbotsford-Mission. On the contrary, Kelowna is the city in British Columbia where the unemployment rate is the lowest in November 2020 (4.7%).
| Cities of British Columbia | Unemployment rate in November 2020 | Number of unemployed people in November 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Vancouver | 8.1% | 122,600 |
| Abbotsford–Mission | 8.1% | 8,600 |
| Victoria | 6.3% | 13,000 |
| Kelowna | 4.7% | 5,200 |
Antoine Fruchard, insurance expert and CEO at Hellosafe.ca
“All the Canadian provinces are facing difficulties regarding their job market due to the actual pandemic situation. However, even if the jobs were particularly affected, Canada and British Columbia are starting to rise again. Indeed, the employment rate is growing since May and it's a really good indicator for the Canadian economy. However, there's still a long way to go before we get back to the indicators of the beginning of the year 2020, since new lockdowns and restrictions measures have been taken again in December in a significant number of cities in BC. We can surely hope that 2021 will be a better year regarding the job market."
Our methodology
This study has been built upon data released by Statistics Canada. All of the data set out in this study was collected by the Canadian government. We tried, throughout our study, to highlight the principal trends in Canada and British Columbia regarding the employment and unemployment main facts and figures. All data must be interpreted in the context of the actual pandemic and explains the discrepancy that may exist regarding previous years' data.
About Hellosafe.ca
Hellosafe.ca is a comparison platform which is shaking up the insurance market – giving you access to the best Canadian insurance deals in less than 30 seconds. Hellosafe.ca is supported and financed by Blue, an Insurtech Venture Capital firm. Blue already owns two leaders in the French insurance comparison market, Réassurez-moi and Coover. These platforms help more than 10 million people with their insurance every year. We have developed a unique comparison technology that gives access to cover details and quotes without customers having to give their phone number or email address. This engine is the result of four years of hard work.
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