Are local Job levels bouncing back?

While 2006 may not seem like a banner year when it comes to job opportunities, local accountants say that considering the pain of the last few years, 2006 shows trends of a rebound for the local economy.

With statistics from 2005 in hand, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of B. C. suggested that more jobs and more businesses have been incorporated than in the previous years. While at the same time the report offered less positive news for past businesses, stating that bankruptcies increased by 15% in the region.

The Unemployment rate was listed at 8.1% in the report, though one must always take the unemployment rate with a grain of salt. Too many factors can skew those numbers, things such as make work projects that take workers off the rolls temporarily only to send them back on when the project runs out.

There are jobs that once were full time, that now only provide part time hours, which do reduce the take home pay of a worker.

And then there are those claimants that exhaust their claims, who don’t find themselves counted in the unemployment statistics anymore, apparently disappearing into an accounting black hole it seems.

It’s that situation that no doubt contributes to the fact, that residents of the Northwest are twice as likely to receive social assistance, as residents of any other region of the province.

However, we don’t want to look askance any semblance of a tide turning. Considering the amount of pain the community has gone through over the last five years or so, any indication of improvement is surely welcome.

As for the survey, it seems that Service sector jobs lead the way in the Northwest, of the 3,300 jobs created in 2005, 2,200 were involved in the service industry. With a turn around expected in the Northwest with the arrival of the container port operations and other projects that are slowly working their way through their different systems, it’s expected to paint a much better picture for the Northwest in the near future, than the recent past has provided.

The Daily News had full details of the report and the interpretations of the information in its Tuesday edition.

JOBS AND NEW BUSINESSES REBOUND IN THE NORTHWEST
Accountants say picture improving in region compared to pervious years.
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Pages One and Three

There were more jobs and more new businesses incorporated in the North Coast and Kitimat areas during 2005 than in many previous years, according to a report from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of B. C.

The report, called 2006 B. C. Check Up, assesses living conditions, job creation and investments across the province.

In the regional districts of Kitimat-Stikine and Skeena-Queen Charlotte, the unemployment rate fell to 8.1 per cent, the lowest rate in the region since 1996.

While the region’s rate declined at a greater pace than the province as a whole, Northwest British Columbia still has the highest unemployment rate in the province.

“The BC Check up report shows that there ahs been a lot of job growth across the province,” said Praveen Vohora, a chartered accountant with Vohora and Company, in Prince Rupert. “My assessment is that the Northwest’s job picture has improved relative to previous years.”

The largest gains in employment occurred in the service sector. Of the 3,300 jobs created in Northwest British Columbia in 2005, approximately 2,200 of these were in services. This was an annual growth rate of 7.7 per cent, the highest increase in Northwest British Columbia services-producing sector employment in the past decade. The number of goods-producing jobs rose by 1,100 or at an annual rate of 7.9 per cent. Again, this was the highest growth rate seen in the past decade.

The CA report suggests that the strong job growth in B. C, will have a positive impact on real hourly wages in the province in the years ahead. According to the report, B. C. workers had a real hourly wage rate of $21.05 last year, slightly ahead of the national average of $21.02 but behind Alberta which was $21.97.

“Clearly, this report bodes well for Prince Rupert as we have major infrastructure projects underway or planned and these will create both short-term and long-term jobs in our community,” said Vohora.

Based on our current trends, I would expect to see both an increase in employment and wage levels in Prince Rupert in the near future.”

Current wage levels in the region are far below the provincial average. On a per capita basis, real pre-tax income in the region declined by 8.8 per cent between 2000 and 2003. During this period, residents consistently realized the lowest per capita incomes in B. C. By 2003, the gap in real pre-tax income per capita between the region and the rest of the province widened to $5.466.

In the meantime, business incorporations in the region were up. Between 2004 and 2005, the number of incorporations grew by a dramatic 25.7 per cent to 88. This was the largest annual gain within the past five years. While this outpaced the provincial growth rate of 25.2 per cent, annual incorporations are still substantially lower than levels seen in the 1990’s when times were more robust. However, it does point to a stronger investment climate in the NCDR in 2005.

Unfortunately, the news about business bankruptcies was not as good. The number of bankruptcies in the NCDR increased by 15.4 per cent in 2005 to 15. Kitimat and Prince Rupert saw an increase in bankruptcies while Terrace saw a decline.

The region also continues to face challenges when it comes to education, with almost twice the number of 18 year olds failing to graduate compared to the rest of the province.

BC Stats data shows that, between 2003/04 and 2004/05, 24.4 per cent of 18 year olds in B. C. , did not graduate from high school. Comparing this with the two regional districts within the NCDR, it appears that both the Skeena-Queen Charlotte and Kitimat-Stikine Regional Districts realized considerably higher-than-average percentages of 18 year olds who did not finish high school during this time – 35 per cent and 36.6 per cent respectively.

And the number of people relying on some form of social assistance within the region was also twice that of the provincial norms.

The share of the adult population dependent on Income Assistance and Employment Insurance was 6.6 per cent in September 2005, compared to the provincial average of 3.7 per cent.

The region, in fact, has the highest share of the adult population dependent on the social safety net in the province.