As the number of employed Canadians dropped by more than a million last month, the jobless rate in Kelowna also jumped. Unemployment in Kelowna was 5.9 per cent in March, up from 5.3 per cent in February, according to Statistics Canada.
Job losses around the Okanagan are expected to continue to increase. The Statistics Canada data for March was collected between March 15 and 21, making it potentially already out of date due to the fast-moving economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. [ Sign up for our Health IQ newsletter for the latest coronavirus updates ] B.C.’s Finance Minister Carole James described the numbers as “early indicators” and said she expected the labour market statistics to continue to be “challenging for the next couple