The three-month average unemployment rate, ending in July was 5.9 per cent for the Cariboo Region.
“That represents about 5,200 people,” said Vincent Ferrao, analyst for Labour Statistic Division at Stats Canada.
There were about 83,000 people working in the region for the same period.
“A year ago the unemployment rate was higher. It was 8.1 per cent last July, but there were about 7,600 people unemployed and the number of people working was about 86,000.”
The unemployment rate fell in 2013 because there were fewer people in the labour market, Ferrao explained.
Within the employed numbers, in July 2013 7,500 people were working in natural resources, compared to 8,000 the same time last year.
Manufacturing saw a decline from 10,400 people in 2013 compared to 13,000 in 2012.
There was an increase in food and accommodation services, with 6,300 employed in 2013 compared to 4,900 in 2012. There was also an increase in public administration from 2,000 in 2012 to 4,500 in 2013.
“You do have to be careful with the industry numbers though because they’re smaller than the total numbers, and they tend to fluctuate,” Ferrao explained.
Ferrao didn’t have any specifics for student summer employment for the Cariboo region.
In a report issued Friday by Stats Canada, among returning students in Canada aged 20 to 24, the employment rate was 69.7 per cent in July, similar to the rate observed in July 2012. Their unemployment rate was 9.1 per cent, little changed from the previous year.
The employment rate for 17- to 19-year-old students was 59.0 per cent in July, similar to the rate observed 12 months earlier.
Their unemployment rate, at 16.8 per cent, was little changed compared with July 2012.