Unemployment rate still rising
Okanagan Edge Staff - Jun 05, 2020 - Biz Releases

Photo: Kirk Penton

Even though jobs were added in May on a national scale, the same can’t be said for Kelowna.

The Okanagan’s largest city had a 1.4% employment drop last month due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and its unemployment rate jumped to 9.6% after increasing to 8.1% in April. There were more than 10,000 unemployed people in the city last month, according to Statistics Canada information released Friday morning.

Kelowna’s unemployment rate usually hovers around the 4% mark.

If there is a positive sign, it’s that the Kelowna census metropolitan area lost only approximately 1,300 jobs between April and May after dropping 5,300 the month before and losing 2,000 between February and March.

The Thompson Okanagan’s unemployment rate rose slightly in May, from 9% to 9.5%, although nearly 2,000 full-time jobs were added during the month. Overall, the labour force in the region dropped by fewer than 1,000 people when part-time employment is included.

There are, however, nearly 4,000 fewer part-time jobs in the Thompson Okanagan than there were at this time last year.


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