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The unemployment rate in Kelowna spiked at the end of 2024, but the full picture isn't so simple.

Kelowna’s unemployment rate went from 4.7 per cent in November to 5 per cent in December, according to the latest labour survey report from Statistics Canada.

There were 5,500 jobless folks in Kelowna in November and in December there were 6,100 people out of work.

Despite the rate increase at the end of the year, unemployment is still 0.2 per cent lower than it was in December 2023.

Kelowna’s unemployment rate dipped marginally year-over-year, but the Thompson-Okanagan’s unemployment rate rose from 3.4 per cent in 2023 to 5.1 per cent in 2024.

Although people in Kelowna might be struggling to find work, B.C.’s minister of jobs, Diana Gibson, said the province ended the year with an increase in jobs.

“B.C. closes out 2024 on a positive note with a gain of 14,100 jobs in December,” Gibson said in a press release. “I know British Columbians are also keenly aware that workers, families and businesses across Canada and the United States are under the real and imminent threat from the tariffs proposed by the incoming Trump administration.”

December saw a large spike in new jobs in the province but between December 2023 and December 2024 there were only 6,900 new jobs in B.C.

READ MORE: House of Commons debate over Kelowna housing data reveals the art of the spin

Statistics Canada highlighted the fact that 8.8 per cent of workers are in industries that depend on exports to the U.S. like oil and gas.

Statistics Canada said average wages across the country increased this year by 3.8 per cent, or $1.32, to $35.77 an hour.

“As our province, as well as the rest of Canada and the world, meet economic challenges, we are working to attract investment and boost our economy with good jobs that support people to build good lives in B.C.,” Gibson said.

Kelowna-Mission MLA Gavin Dew is the shadow minister for jobs and he had some harsh words for the BC NDP in a press release.

“Businesses in BC are being strangled by red tape, high costs, and endless barriers,” Dew said in the release. “The NDP keeps claiming they’re ‘building a clean economy’ but what we really need is an economy that works. Real economic strength comes from private sector growth, not bigger government. This all equates to more debt, higher taxes, and more BC jobs and investment fleeing BC for warmer climates.”

Most of Canada's public sector growth was in education, health care, and social work. 

"In the 12 months to December, public sector employment rose by 156,000, 3.7 per cent, driven by gains in the public-sector components of educational services as well as health care and social assistance," Statistics Canada said in the report. 

Statistics Canada didn't publish data for Kamloops, Vernon, or Penticton. 

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