Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs, Economy Recovery and Innovation, has issued the following statement on the release of Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey for February 2021:

“One year into this pandemic, British Columbia has returned to 99.4% of pre-pandemic employment levels. B.C.’s economy remains one of the strongest in Canada, having created jobs in each of the past 10 months.

“The Labour Force Survey for February shows B.C. added 26,600 jobs, with the majority of those jobs going to women. This dropped B.C.’s unemployment rate to 6.9% from 8.0% in January, the month before.

“In fact, employment in some parts of the province is above pre-pandemic levels. For example, Prince George is at 106.7% and Kamloops is at 103.3%.

“While this does not mean all sectors are back to full strength, it does mean that even as our tourism and hospitality sectors continue to struggle, our economy is growing.