British Columbia added 24,100 jobs overall in 2025, despite a loss of 3,300 in December.
Statistics Canada’s report released Friday shows B.C.’s employment rate in December was unchanged from the previous month at close to 61 per cent, while the unemployment rate was also steady at 6.4 per cent.
That remained lower than the national unemployment rate, which rose to 6.8 per cent last month.
Compared with December 2024, unemployment was up more than nine per cent in the province.
Women aged 25 and older saw the biggest rise in unemployment in B.C. over the past year, up 16.6 per cent.
The jobs report caps a year a difficult year for job-seekers in Canada. StatCan said there was virtually no net employment growth between January and August, but labour market conditions improved in the final months of the year.
The agency said it was a particularly tough year for youth under 25. The national youth unemployment rate reached a high of 14.7 per cent in September, declining to 13.3 per cent in December.
In B.C., the youth unemployment rate ticked up in December to 12.7 per cent, but was down five per cent compared with the same time last year.
Forests Minister Ravi Parmar released a statement Friday on behalf of Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon, who was travelling to India for next week’s trade mission with Premier David Eby.
“There’s no doubt that the trade shocks caused by U.S. President Donald Trump are real. But in 2025, British Columbians responded with strength,” said Parmar.
He said 16,800 of the jobs added in B.C. last year were in construction.
“This reflects our government’s commitment to building the schools, hospitals and transportation infrastructure that British Columbians rely on,” said Parmar.
He also noted B.C.’s unemployment rate remained the third-lowest in Canada last month.
B.C. Conservative jobs critic Gavin Dew pointed to growth in public sector jobs over the past year, which were up 7.6 per cent from December 2024, while natural resources jobs fell by more than 13 per cent.
“It’s concerning to see government jobs keep growing while the private-sector jobs that pay for them aren’t keeping up, especially in the resource sector,” said Dew in a statement.
The NDP government has restricted hiring at the BC Public Service over the past year as part of efforts to slash administrative costs, though the rules don’t apply to all public sector organizations.
Finance critic Peter Milobar said he believes the jobs numbers point to a concerning trend for growth in B.C.
“Without a proper plan by this government, we’re going to see a continuing softening of the economy in B.C.,” Milobar tells Vista News. He said that plan should include streamlined permitting and tax policies that attract investment.
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