VANCOUVER – The latest jobs figures released by Statistics Canada show that while the short term numbers are bad, the long-term results for B.C. under the B.C. Liberals are even worse, say the New Democrats.

“We know that job numbers will always bounce around from month to month, so it is important to take a long-term view,” said New Democrat finance critic Bruce Ralston. “When you look at the big picture, going back to September 2011 when the B.C. Liberals launched their so-called jobs plan, the Liberal record is worse than what the statistics revealed today,” said Ralston.

Statistics Canada's monthly labour force survey released Friday showed the unemployment rate in British Columbia up sharply from 6.3 per cent to 7.0 per cent, and 22,400 full-time jobs were lost in the province including 5,600 in the private sector. Since September 2011, 34,800 jobs have been shed in the private sector, and overall job growth is second-worst in Canada.

“The Liberal plan was supposed to make huge job gains in the private sector for B.C., but since the plan was announced we’ve actually lost nearly 35,000 private sector jobs,” said Ralston. “B.C. is now worst of all provinces for private-sector job growth.”

New Democrat jobs and economic development critic Jenny Kwan added that millions of dollars of taxpayers' money has been wasted advertising the jobs plan in order to try to boost support for the Liberals.

“Taxpayers are paying $17 million for advertisements that claim B.C. is leading the country in job creation and that the jobs plan is working great,” said Kwan. “Those claims don’t bear any truth in reality.

“The Liberals had the HST, then they had the jobs plan. Both of the Liberals’ major initiatives since the last election have fallen flat,” said Kwan. “British Columbians deserve better.”

The B.C. Liberals are not up to the challenges facing British Columbians today. B.C.’s New Democrats are offering change for the better, one practical step at a time.