The January cold snap that nearly wiped out this year's grape, cherry and peach crop has reverberated right through the economy of the Thompson-Okanagan.
In its just-released BC Check-Up, the Chartered Professional Accountants of BC pointed out that agriculture's bad year also had negative ripple effects on the labour market, tourism and incomes.
"It was a devastating year for a lot of farmers in the region and that had a knock-on effect for workers further down the supply chain," said Karen Christiansen, a partner at MNP Kelowna accountants and consultants.
"The overall economic impact was substantial and highlights the importance of building a diverse and resilient economy."
Generally, the Thompson-Okanagan, and particularly its biggest city -- Kelowna -- does have a diverse and resilient economy spread over big industries like high-tech, tourism, construction-real estate and retail-wholesale-trade.
But, agriculture's tough year shows how one sector's rough time can echo through other sectors.
The BC Check-Up focused on employment and labour market trends this time around.
It shows that the Thompson-Okanagan unemployment rate was 5.2% in September 2024, up 1.7 percentage points from a year earlier.
"The unemployment rate increased back to where it was two years ago," said Christiansen.
"It's not an alarming figure on its own, but coupled with a sustained drop in the employment rate, I would say it's cause for concern."
In September 2024, there were 300,500 people working in the Thompson-Okanagan, down slightly from last year.
However, the biggest drop was in full-time employment, which was down 5.7% and represents a loss of 13,800 workers.
At the same time, part-time work increased a bit.
Part-time work is good if that's what the worker wants to fit into their life or schooling.
But, part-time is not good if it's the only option for a worker who would rather be full-time.
While employment slid in the the Thompson-Okanagan, our working-age population increased by 13,700 or 2.6%.
That works out to an employment rate of working-age people of 55.4%, down 2.7% from a year earlier.
Now, 55.4% employment rate sounds low and it is.
In fact, it's the lowest in the province.
Some working-age people don't work by choice -- they are stay-at-home parents, concentrating on their studies, retired early or have enough money that they don't need to work in the traditional sense of the word.
But, it can also mean that people are under-employed (going back to that working part-time when you'd prefer full-time) or unemployed and looking for a good job.
"The region had the lowest employment rate in the province," reiterated Christiansen.
"While many challenges weren't unique to the region -- like higher interest rates and population aging -- it was also a very difficult year for the agriculture industry."
Overall, there were 3,600 fewer people working in agriculture in September 2024 (which would regularly be harvest season) compared to September 2023.
Goods-sector employment held steady at 71,300 workers while the natural resources industry added 6,000 workers.
The Thompson-Okanagan's services sector had 229,300 workers in September 2024, just a little lower than last year.
The public administration sector lost 5,300 workers year-over-year.
Most other industries and sectors posted only slight changes one way or the other over the past year.
