Kelowna’s economy faltered again last month as the jobless rate rose from eight per cent to nine per cent and further 1,500 people were added to the ranks of the unemployed.
Kelowna’s jobless rate is once again the highest in Canada with 12,100 people looking for work.
It’s the latest grim monthly job report for Kelowna from Statistics Canada in the regular monthly update that shows the national unemployment fell from 6.9 percent to 6.6 percent between April and May.
The only glimmer of good news for Kelowna was that total local employment actually rose on a month-over-month basis, from 121,900 to 122,600. But so too did total local unemployment, from 10,600 to 12,100.
Kelowna last had Canada’s highest jobless rate in November 2025, at 11 per cent, when a record 16,200 people were unemployed.
Between April and May, Kelowna’s labour force – a measure of people either working or looking for work – expanded by 2,200 people, from 132,500 to 134,700. As the total population was unchanged, that suggests people who had temporarily quit their search for work resumed their job hunt but had yet to find a position.
The unemployment rate in Vancouver is 6.7 per cent, up from 6.5 per cent, and it also rose in Kamloops, to 5.9 per cent, in Chilliwack, to 7.7 per cent, and in Abbotsford-Mission, to 7.8 per cent. The rate fell slightly to 8.5 per cent in Nanaimo.
Victoria, the provincial capital with a lot of government jobs, had by far the province’s lowest jobless rate last month at 4.1 per cent. That was down from 4.3 per cent in April.
Kelowna’s bleak jobless update came in the same week in which Mayor Tom Dyas ‘Task Force on Economic Prosperity’ released its first two recommendations since the group was formed last year. It’s top recommendation is for Kelowna to consider quitting the Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission, with members saying the city could likely get better value by setting up its own city-run agency. The second recommendation is for the city to study building a major new conference and convention centre.
Nationally, Statistics Canada said the Canadian economy rebounded with a surprise gain of 88,000 jobs in May, partially offsetting a bigger drop in employment since the start of the year. StatsCan said May’s gains were the first significant increase in employment since November 2025. The economy had shed 112,000 net jobs in the first four months of 2026.
Economists had broadly expected a more modest gain of 10,000 jobs in May and that the unemployment rate would hold steady. Gains last month were concentrated in full-time work and was widespread across industries, StatsCan said.