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B.C. leads nation in job growth |
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By Ethan Caleb » Looking for the place with the most job
opportunities? British Columbia may be where you should head for, with
the strongest employment growth figures in 2005, a new Statistics
Canada survey reveals.
The Western province, many of whose cities including Vancouver and
Victoria are magnets for new immigrants, enjoyed overall employment
growth of 3.8% last year, with gains in construction (+14.0%), trade
(+13.3%), information, culture and recreation (+13.1%) as well as in
educational services (+10.9%).
The unemployment rate remains among the lowest in over three decades.
Employment in Alberta rose by 1.8% in 2005, with jobs in professional, scientific and technical services jumping a whopping 21.5%. Employment also increased in educational services (+11.2%), and by 5.4% in natural resources, the result of intense oil and gas activities.
In Ontario, whose capital Toronto remains top draw for most immigrants, overall employment grew by 1.2% in 2005. There were gains in a number of industries, most notably educational services (+13.3%), business, building and other support services (+8.8%) and construction (+6.4%) while manufacturing continued to shed jobs (-4.1%).
Jobs in Quebec grew by 1.4%, with robust job growth in construction (+9.7%) and educational services (+5.9%). However, there were declines in manufacturing (-5.0%).
Other provinces to experience jobs growth in 2005 were New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, though this was below 1% in both cases.
There was little change in both employment and the unemployment rate in the other provinces.
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