The jobless rate in our region last month was down from the previous month, but up from the same time last year.
Statistics Canada says 82,100 people had jobs in the Kootenays in July while 4,800 were looking for work out of a population of 142,500, a rate of 5.5 per cent. In July 2022, more people were working (84,400) and fewer were job hunting (2,900) out of a population of 140,800, for a rate of 3.3 per cent.
In June, the rate was 5.7 per cent, with 82,300 people working and 5,000 looking out of a population of 142,000.
The BC rate last month was 5.5 per cent, compared to 4.6 per cent last year. The Kootenay rate in July was fourth among seven sub-regions of the province.
Nationally the rate increased 0.1 percentage points to 5.5 per cent, marking the third straight monthly increase. Canada lost 6,000 jobs, with employment decreasing among men aged 25 to 54 but increasing among male youth 15 to 24.
Fewer people were employed in construction, public administration, information, culture and recreation, as well as in transportation and warehousing. Employment went up in health care and social assistance, educational services, finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing and agriculture.