Gains in full-time jobs on the West Coast offset losses among part-time workers in April, according to Statistics Canada.
B.C. added a net total of 2,900 jobs between March and April, the statistics agency reported May 11.
The province shed 15,300 part-time positions, however, those losses were buffered by the addition of 18,200 full-time jobs last month.
Job growth was soft nationwide as the country added 1,100 jobs amid other gains and losses throughout the provinces.
“The details of today’s report were decent and don’t change the bigger picture for the economy— it’s growing moderately, so the job market is gradually tightening, and wage pressures are gradually rising,” BMO chief economist Douglas Porter said in a note to investors.
B.C. saw gains in professional, scientific and technical services jobs (+5,900); transportation and warehousing jobs (+3,900); and accommodation and food services jobs (+5,000).
Losses were felt in finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing jobs (-6,400); and business, building and other support services jobs (-4,200).
Meanwhile, B.C.’s unemployment rate jumped from 4.7 per cent to five per cent as more people entered the workforce looking for jobs.
Despite this gain, the province's unemployment rate remains the lowest in the country.
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