The November Surrey Labour Market Intelligence Report has been released by the Surrey Board of Trade.
“In October 2021, Surrey’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be driven by a two-pronged strength: knowledge-based industries and resource industries,” said Anita Huberman, President & CEO, Surrey Board of Trade. “Many other goods and services sectors in Surrey remain impacted and below February 2020 employment levels.”
Employment by occupation in Surrey with the greatest number of jobs impacted were in:
· Trades, transport & equipment operators
· Sales & service employment
· Management employment
· Arts, culture, recreation & sport
These drops were offset by occupational sectors which have significantly recovered the most in Surrey during the pandemic, which are estimated to be in:
· Business, finance & administration
· Health
· Natural resources, agriculture & related production
· Natural & applied sciences
The sectors most impacted and still not fully recovered in Surrey are estimated to be:
· Construction is still down over 6,200 jobs or -19.0%;
· Educational services (private and public) is down 1,500 jobs or -9.2%;
· Accommodation & food services is lower than pre-pandemic levels by over 1,400 jobs or -7.4%;
· Other services (personal services, high touch jobs) is down 1,500 jobs or -11.2%.
The sectors showing the greatest recovery since February 2020 in Surrey are estimated to be:
· Health care & social assistance is up almost by over 5,400 jobs or 16.0%;
· Public administration employment is up over 4,000 jobs or 43% in Surrey, perhaps from back-to-school trends;
· Wholesale & retail trade has rebounded with almost 3,100 new jobs for a 6.0% increase;
· Professional, scientific & technical businesses in Surrey are up by over 1,600 jobs or 8.2%;
· Business, building & other support has recovered by over 3,500 jobs or 24.1% since the start of the pandemic;
· While gaining almost 1,300 jobs, the natural resources sector saw a large percentage recovery in Surrey at 43.1% since February 2020;
· Manufacturing in Surrey is up over 1,100 jobs since before the pandemic with a 4.2% increase.
Table 1: Estimated Employment by Industry in Surrey – February 2020 through October 2021
Adapted from Table 14-10-0379-01, Statistics Canada
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