economy
NO REAL SURPRISES AS VANCOUVER JOBLESS RATE RISES What happens when employment grows more slowly than the labour force? The unemployment rate increases—and that’s precisely what has happened in Metro Vancouver over the past year. With the region’s labour force having grown by 1.8% between November 2018 and
recently—making it one of the highest in the country), all of which impact wage changes. However, despite the direction of change in the unemployment rate, one would be wise to not portend doom and gloom for the regional economy for two reasons. The first is that Metro Vancouver continues to enjoy very healthy labour market conditions relative to both its metro peers in Alberta and to the centre of the universe in Ontario, all of which have experienced persistently higher unemployment rates than Vancouver over the past five years. The second is that the rate of unemployment, much like employment itself, is cyclical even at the best of times, with the current rate of 4.9%—while up from last quarter—still within sight of the near-historical-lows achieved in recent years.
November 2019, and the regional job base growing by only 1.1%, the proportion of the labour force actively looking for work rose, pushing the unemployment rate up to 4.9% in November. This is up modestly from a recent low of 4.0% as recently as July, and up from 4.2% one year prior. So, put this one in the category of “what we’re watching” as we progress through 2020, along with total employment growth, full-time and part-time changes, and the region’s job vacancy rate (which held steady at 4.8% most
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