BC Business
The data on job creation in B.C. during 2017 is in, and the major headlines are no surprise. More than 40,000 new positions were created, on top of 60,000 the previous year, for a two-year gain exceeding 100,000. Ominously, the two sectors that contributed most to these gains were Finance, Insurance & Real Estate and Construction—which is to say, the housing boom. But buried in the numbers are some things that make you go hmmm. Like the fact the Metro Vancouver unemployment ended the year at 4.1%, essentially full employment when you account for regular churn in the job market. Or the significant drop in public administration jobs during a time of left-leaning senior governments making no concerted effort at budgetary restraint. Or that the number of jobs in Kelowna jumped an eye-watering 10%. In a year!