VICTORIA — As British Columbia continues to lose jobs, the province’s employment rate dipped to the lowest it’s been in over 10 years last month. The dismal numbers demonstrate once again that the Liberal jobs plan has been a failure, say New Democrats.

“British Columbia lost a total of 8,200 jobs between September and October, including 4,500 full-time jobs, according to today’s jobs report,” said New Democrat finance critic Mike Farnworth. “Even Finance Minister Mike de Jong knows this jobs plan isn’t working. He admitted last week that 2013’s jobs numbers ‘fall short.’”

In the past year, B.C. has lost 15,500 jobs while the working age population has grown by 43,300. Since the jobs plan was launched more than two years ago, B.C. has lost 6,700 private sector jobs, the worst record in the country and the only province to have suffered an absolute decline.

“These numbers are more bad news for people looking for good, family-supporting jobs in this province,” said New Democrat jobs critic Harry Bains. “We can see the result of this job loss in the provincial out-migration numbers. Since the jobs plan launched, 14,147 British Columbians have moved to Alberta.

“We need to work to stop this slide. We can’t do this without an investment in skills training and post-secondary programs. Sadly, the B.C. Liberals have done the opposite, dismantling our apprenticeship system in 2002 and doing little to put it back together, and cutting post-secondary spaces.”

Click here to view the backgrounder showing long-term jobs trends in B.C. and other provinces.