Jobs in BC interior going boom, rest of province bust

People hard up for a job may want to consider moving to British Columbia's interior region to find employment. 

"Prince George and much of the interior of British Columbia has bucked the trend of job losses in the Lower Mainland and Victoria region," said BC Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Pat Bell (MLA Prince George-Mackenzie) in a telephone press conference this morning. He said the city of Prince George gained a record-breaking 600 jobs in July, which far surpasses other cities in BC. He said forestry, mining, natural gas and subsidiary industries and service sectors were the main drivers.

Bell said mining in particular was an economic driver in last year and year and half, citing Huckleberry Mines Ltd.'s expansion in BC and the Mt.Milligan mining region as key examples.

Overall, the province lost 14,500 jobs in July. The minister said this is a normal fluctation in tune with the rest of the country. 

"All across Canada, provinces are seeing fluctuations in the labour market and B.C. is no different," Bell said in a release. Canada lost 30,400 jobs in July.

The province's release stated that full-time positions in BC increased by 9,600 from June 2012, and the decrease in total employment was "entirely due to the loss of part-time employment." BC's labour force now stands at 2,307,700 in total. 

The unemployment rate in BC is 7.0 per cent, below the national average of 7.3 per cent.