At a recent presentation to the city, Economics professor Peter Tsigaris urged decision-makers to rethink how they read the local labour market. Addressing the Economic Health Select Committee, Tsigaris delivered a succinct labour market update of note to councillors and community members alike.
Kamloops’ high unemployment rate has long been cause for concern. Capturing the percentage of the labour force (working-age adults actively seeking employment) unable to find work, local unemployment peaked at 10.3 per cent in Oct. 2025, but has recently cooled down to 7.4 per cent as of Dec. 2025, per Statistics Canada. The national rate hovered around seven per cent during this period.
Tsigaris warned of overweighing the unemployment rate alone. While this number is simple and headline-grabbing, it does not capture the entire picture of labour market health. This is especially the case for Kamloops, which he says has “unusual labour market patterns.”
“The unemployment rate can rise even as jobs are being created,” Tsigaris said.
Beyond a single figure, he stressed the importance of examining the causes of inflows to the unemployment pool, such as layoffs and voluntary quits, as well as outflows, including discouraged workers and those who move.
He also reminded councillors to be statistically savvy when reading economic trends.
“Unemployment statistics are drawn from a small sample size,” he said. “There’s a lot of variability.”
Discussion of local social and economic issues often invites comparison to our neighbor, Kelowna. Tsigaris pulled 10-year data from the two cities, showing that on average, the unemployment rate trended much lower in Kelowna. Both labour markets experience the same aggregate shocks, such as COVID-19, he added.
“But the interesting fact is now the unemployment rate in Kelowna is higher than the one in Kamloops. It was just lagging behind.”
The professor suggested several causes for this divergence. First, Kamloops draws more people into the labor force, increasing the number counted as unemployed, even when job demand is similar. Secondly, sectoral differences shape market responses to pressure.
“We have a significantly higher health care and social assistance sector. Our retail sector is higher percentage-wise. Construction is higher in Kelowna. Another significant difference is public administration. Here, public administration is about 6.4 per cent of the labor force, while Kelowna’s is only 3.7.”
Tsigaris dispelled the idea that Kamloops’ economy is less diversified, pointing to his calculation using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), a measure of firm or sector power. While the composition of sectors varies between the two cities, the concentrations do not.
The labour force participation rate, which tracks the percentage of working-age people employed or actively seeking work, has been climbing in Kamloops since 2020.
“[After the pandemic], public spending increased to try to stabilize local demand. There were lower interest rates, loss of liquidity in the market, investment increased, hiring increased, and there was lots of labor supply inflow.”
Currently at around 70 per cent, Kamloops’ participation rate is among the highest in Canada. “It shows you optimism in the labor market,” Tsigaris said.
Readers interested in Tsigaris’ presentation to the city can find the full recording here.