An annual report on labour market trends released by the Chartered Professional Accountants of B.C, has found the Kootenay Region has the lowest labour force participation rate in the province, despite increases in full-time employment since last year.
The regional labour force participation rate currently sits at 57.1 per cent as of September, relatively unchanged from the previous year.
The rate is an estimate of an economy's active workforce. The formula is the number of people ages 15 and older who are employed or actively seeking employment, divided by the total non-institutionalized, civilian working-age population.
There are currently 82,900 residents in the workforce regionally. Full time-employment has increased by 10.7 per cent in the past year to 64,400 workers, with a small decline in part-time work. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate has remained relatively unchanged at 5.7 per cent.
"Labour market conditions did soften over the last year, which we see in lower job vacancy numbers, but the impact on unemployment has so far been modest," said Chartered Professional Accountants partner Mike Calder.
Calder noted that the low rate of labour force participation likely correlates to having an aging population, as the region has one of the oldest age demographics in the province.
Although the labour market hasn't faced significant losses, there have been some challenges within certain employment sectors, particularly in natural resources, which faced a 22.1 per cent decrease in workers in the last year.
The service sector fared better with a 7.6 per cent increase in employment overall. Wholesale and retail employers were doing particularly well, with a 26.3 per cent worker boost.
Natural resources was the only sector in the goods industry that was not steady in the past year, and Calder said the overall decline was offset by a minimal gain in the construction industry.
He added that it will be important to continue to attract financiers to the region in order to make up for the losses in the natural resource sector.
"It's important that we continue to attract investment to the region's core industries and that residents reap the benefits of that economic activity," he said.
