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Ken Peacock, chief economist for the Business Council of B.C., said the June employment numbers are a pleasant surprise, with the first full month of the province’s restart bringing almost triple the employment increase seen in May. But of the 118,000 new jobs, 102,000 were part-time.
“Now it’s not surprising that companies are rehiring people on a part-time basis rather than jumping into full-time hours,” Peacock said in an interview with Black Press Media. “And also when you look at the sectors that were hit, you see more part-time in food services, accommodation services, some of the tourism activities.”
The one area that continues to see declines is manufacturing, which Peacock said is an indication of B.C.’s export economy in a global pandemic.
“We know our forest products sector is hurting, mining activity is probably being dampened as we speak because of the global slowdown, so I’m going to be watching that manufacturing number and some of the export elements closely in the next few months,” Peacock said.
