Canadian employment was little changed in June, declining by 9,400 from May. The national unemployment rate rose 0.1 points to 7.1 per cent.  Of some concern, employment has risen by just 0.4 per cent over the past 12 months, the lowest year-over-year growth since February 2010.

The BC economy broke a string of two consecutive months of job losses, adding 6,700 jobs in June. However, the provincial unemployment rate rose 0.1 points higher to 6.2 per cent as the rise in people looking for work outpaced employment gains. The level of employment in BC is up just 0.4 per cent year-to-date in 2014, though we anticipate a pick-up in job growth in the second half of the year.