COEDC Releases Economic Indicators Report for 4th Quarter of 2021
Economic Indicators February 9, 2022
Q4 2021 Economic and Job Market Indicators
To keep the public and business community informed on the economy of the region, the COEDC – the Region’s primary business resource – releases a quarterly Economic Indicators Report highlighting key economic data for the Central Okanagan. The Q4 2021 Economic Indicators report includes cumulative statistics for 9 key economic indicators for January through December 2021
This Job Market Indicators Report, first released in 2021, provides a snapshot of the Central Okanagan’s labour force and job market through data collected from Vicinity Jobs, a real-time labour market information technology platform.
Both reports are publicly available in the Resources page in the COEDC website.
The Kelowna CMA grew 2.6% in 2021 compared to 2020 and 14% from 2016-2021 – the highest growth rate of any metropolitan area in Canada, outpacing the Provincial (7.6%) and National (5.2%) rates.
As many employers report labour challenges, the number of people in the Central Okanagan labour force remained relatively steady (-0.5%) and the unemployment rate decreased from an average of 7.3% in 2020 to 5.4% in 2021.
On the business side, the region saw an increase of 6.1% in business licenses (15,426 in total) for 2021, with Lake Country (9.6%) leading the way.
The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation saw housing starts in the region rise 82% with an emphasis on multi-family units. The median price for a new single/semi-detached home in the region sits at $1,025,000, up 3.5% over 2020.
The unemployment rate and job postings saw a steady recovery in 2021. The unemployment rate decreased by 1.9% and job postings increased by 42.5% as the economy and demand for staff grew. Job seekers – individuals who created a profile in job portals – increased by 15.2% last year.
When looking at job postings by occupation category, the largest increase in postings was in Health (139.9%), followed by Sales (44.8%) and Trades (43%) occupations, while in the job postings by industry category, the largest increase in postings occurred in Health Care & Social Assistance (186.4%), Retail Trade (55.7%) and Professional, Scientific & Technical Services (45.1%).
The largest increase in job seekers by occupation category was in Trades, Transport & Equipment Operators (26.1%), followed by Education, Law & Social, Government Services (22.7%) and Sales & Services (14.2%). Meanwhile, the largest increase in job seekers by industry occurred in Health Care & Social Assistance (47.4%), followed by Manufacturing (19.6%) and Retail Trade (19.5%).
Note the Commission collects the above third-party statistical data from BC Stats, Statistics Canada, CMHC, Vicinity Jobs, and local governments in the Central Okanagan. Caution should be used in the interpretation of month-to-month statistics, in particular the Labour Force Survey, a monthly sample survey which provides unemployment rates of the Canadian labour market.
To learn more about the COEDC and what we do visit www.investkelowna.com.
