The jobless rate in our region exactly matched the national average last month, which was the lowest in nearly 50 years.
Statistics Canada says there were 77,400 people working in the Kootenays in March and 4,300 looking for work, for a rate of 5.3 per cent. All three figures were down from the same time last year, when there were 80,300 employed and 5,800 job hunting, for a rate of 6.7 per cent.
The B.C. rate was 5.2 per cent, down from 7.7 per cent in 2021.
Nationally, the economy added nearly 73,000 jobs, most of them in Ontario and Quebec as unemployment reached a record low of 5.3 per cent. Women over 55 returning to work helped drive the increase.