THE REGIONAL jobless rate fell in April compared to March, reflecting an uptick in the economy now that winter has passed.
April's rate was 8.2 per cent compared to March's 9.1 per cent.
By numbers, that works out to 41,500 people working in April compared to 41,000 in March.
In April 2010 the jobless rate was 12 per cent and just 38,000 people were listed as working.
The number of people unemployed dropped from March's figure of 4,100 to 3,700 in April.
These statistics are derived from interviews by Statistics Canada of people over the age of 15 who consider themselves part of the workforce whether they are working or not and apply to the area from the North Coast west to just this side of Vanderhoof. They are not taken from Employment Insurance figures.
In all, 45,200 people considered themselves part of the workforce in April whether they were working or not, an increase from 45,100 in March.
April's regional rate of 8.2 per cent is now below the provincial rate which is 8.4 per cent and is better than the 8.5 per cent of Vancouver Island and Coast, the Lower Mainland's 8.4 per cent, the Thompson-Okanagan's 8.8 per cent and the 10.1 per cent in the Kootenays.
Only the northeast with 5.4 per cent and the Cariboo at 7.1 per cent have jobless rates lower than that of this region.