[EXCERPT]
Ken Peacock, chief economist at the Business Council of B.C., said the sizeable gains in jobs and decline in unemployment rate came as a surprise.
“I wouldn't have thought [unemployment] would have been that low this quickly,” he said.
“Really up until this month, it was a story of recovery and part time jobs.”
But he noted a strong uptick in full-time employment last month as the province added 38,500 full-time positions vs. 16,300 part-time positions.
Peacock said for much of the recovery over the summer, workers were returning to work but only in a part-time capacity.
With concerts and live sports still in stasis, Peacock noted the big gains in information, culture and recreation stemmed from the film and TV sector coming back to life over the past month.
