The outlook on job losses actually improved in B.C. in the month of May, but with more people actively looking for work the unemployment also hit a new high.

B.C. Finance Minister Carole James says the unemployment rate in this province is now 13.4 per cent, which is slightly below the record-setting national average of 13.7 per cent unemployment.

James attributed the increase in unemployment to more people looking for work, as the B.C. actually gained 43,300 jobs last month.

Kamloops, meanwhile, has an unemployment rate of 10.9 per cent, which is down from 12.3 per cent in April. And the Thompson-Okanagan unemployment is at 9.5 per cent, which is up from nine per cent a month earlier.

She also says the latest job numbers represent up to May 16, which is before B.C. entered phase two of its economic restart plan.

The hardest hit sector continues to be hospitality, which James says makes up 46 per cent of job losses during the pandemic. With that, James says youth unemployment is at 28.9 per cent.

Since mid March, the province has now lost more than 352,000 jobs.

Meanwhile, the $1,000-dollar, tax-free government subsidy, called the B.C. Emergency Benefit for Workers, has been given to more than 521,000 residents. All of the people receiving that money are also receiving the federal government’s Canada Emergency Response Benefit.