Brand New B.C. Job Tools!

The WorkBC team is excited to announce three new products available on WorkBC. Check out the Build a Career Smartphone app, Career Explorers video game and Job Trend Tracker forecasting tool. Have fun exploring and share these interactive tools with your colleagues, family and friends!

www.buildacareer.ca

The Build a Career smartphone app features a quiz for young adults ages 15 to 25 to assess their skills and interests and discover new careers. They can also watch videos of the top ten jobs in B.C. and map their way to a career centre nearby. Available on iPhone, Android and Blackberry and in web and iPad versions.

www.careerexplorers.ca

The Career Explorers 3-D online video game lets youth (ages 8 to 12) explore the many career options available in B.C. and its regions. The “roll and move” board game, badges and mini-games provide an interactive and fun experience for players.

www.bcjobtrendtracker.ca

The Job Trend Tracker interactive web application provides reliable labour market information for citizens, employers and government. It’s packed with visual, interactive tools that tell B.C.’s future labour market story. Find demand and supply outlooks from 2010 to 2020 on more than 500 careers in B.C. Map, chart and compare regional and provincial job stats and discover which jobs need workers where. For the best possible experience, we recommend viewing in IE 7+, Safari 3+, Firefox 3+, Opera 9.5+ or Chrome 2.0+.

These tools were created under the federally funded Research & Innovation Support Measures Program.

The new Canada Starts Here: The BC Jobs Plan aims to create jobs, remove barriers to investment and support market opportunities for B.C.

The plan features three pillars designed to help the province surmount today’s economic uncertainty:

•  Work with employers and communities to enable job creation across B.C.
•  Strengthen our infrastructure to get our goods to market; and
•  Expand markets for B.C. products and service, particularly in Asia.

CRITICAL SECTORS IN B.C.

The BC Jobs Plan identifies eight provincial sectors critical for BC’s growth, either through direct job creation or as platforms for future expansion.

TRAINING FOR THE JOBS OF TOMORROW

Initiatives will also ensure that B.C. skills and training programs lead toward the jobs of tomorrow. Regional Workforce Tables will provide a new platform for educators, industry, employers, local chambers of commerce, First Nations, labour and others to come together to plan how best to align training programs to meet regional needs.

Industry sector partnerships will receive further funding to identify their skill and workforce needs, and additional funding for upgrading skills will ensure that workers can benefit from the opportunities created.

Read the new BC Jobs Plan!

WorkBC - Your Monthly Labour Market Update

Welcome to your B.C labour market update: a quick way to catch up on developments in the labour market and see exciting features that will assist your planning and decision-making.

September Labour Market Snapshot - keep your finger on the latest labour market pulse.

Highlights

- Total employment in B.C. increased over the last month (+31,600 jobs).

- The unemployment rate dropped to 6.7%.

- The unemployment rate for youth decreased to 14.1%.

- The North Coast & Nechako region had the highest regional unemployment rate in B.C. at 8.6%; Northeast had the lowest rate (4.3%).

Click here to find more detailed information on B.C.'s employment, unemployment and participation rates; and industry and regional highlights.