Retail
Retail Trade Jobs
Growth in retail trade is closely tied to growth in population and therefore does not usually change significantly from year to year. Retail jobs in Greater Victoria increased by 7% from 2001 to 2006, slightly less than the BC growth of 8%.
The retail category with the largest growth was building and garden equipment stores (+44%, consistent with the surge in new home construction), although clothing and sporting goods stores also increased employment by 18%. The motor vehicle and gasoline category is the only one to lose employment.
There are no major differences between the types of retail jobs in Greater Victoria relative to BC, with the exception of the motor vehicle and gasoline category, in which Greater Victoria has 36% fewer jobs (location quotient of 0.64).
These employment figures from the Census are for "place of work", meaning they are jobs that have a fixed location in Greater Victoria, regardless of where the worker lives.
|
Education Jobs in Greater Victoria |
Jobs |
Job Growth, 2001-2006 |
Location Quotients* (relative to BC) |
|||
|
2001 |
2006 |
Greater Victoria |
BC |
2001 |
2006 |
|
|
Food and Health |
6,795 |
7,195 |
6% |
10% |
1.11 |
1.05 |
|
General and Other |
4,435 |
4,610 |
4% |
-2% |
1.10 |
1.13 |
|
Clothing and Sporting Goods |
2,865 |
3,380 |
18% |
8% |
1.03 |
1.09 |
|
Motor Vehicle & Gasoline |
1,965 |
1,815 |
-8% |
4% |
0.74 |
0.64 |
|
Furniture and Electronics |
1,375 |
1,410 |
3% |
20% |
0.98 |
0.82 |
|
Building & Garden Equipment |
830 |
1,195 |
44% |
23% |
0.83 |
0.95 |
|
Total |
18,280 |
19,615 |
7% |
8% |
1.01 |
0.99 |
| Source: Statistics Canada Census | ||||||
Annual Employment in Retail and Wholesale Trade
Employment in retail and wholesale trade, which are combined in the Labour Force Survey, increased by 23% in Greater Victoria from 2003 to 2008. This is considerably faster than the 8% growth observed in BC overall and the 2% growth in Metro Vancouver.
Annual employment data by sector is from Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey (LFS). Because it is based on a survey, the results include sampling error and may vary somewhat year to year due to random variations as opposed to real changes in annual sector employment.
Caution is therefore advised for interpreting changes on a year over year basis. Sustained trends over longer time periods are considerably more valid.
|
Employment in Retail & Wholesale Trade (000) |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
Growth, 07-08 |
Growth 03-08 |
|
BC |
327.8 |
315.8 |
334.6 |
353.7 |
365 |
354.8 |
-3% |
8% |
|
Greater Victoria |
24.5 |
24.7 |
25.6 |
29.3 |
29.7 |
30.2 |
2% |
23% |
|
Metro Vancouver |
183.9 |
170.8 |
183.7 |
191.8 |
191.4 |
186.7 |
-2% |
2% |
| Source: Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey. Reported by BC Stats. | ||||||||