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Vol. 61, Issue 201
Proudly serving Cranbrook and area since 1951
www.dailytownsman.com
Good time to be a job seeker, stats suggest SALLY MACDONALD Townsman Staff
There are fewer jobless people in the Kootenays than anywhere else in the province. According to a BC Stats report released on October 11, the unemployment rate
Only three per cent of the Kootenay population was jobless in September: BC Stats
in the Kootenay region in September was just three per cent. That is significantly lower than the provincial average for the month, at 6.7 per cent. “Unemployment rates are
like polls; they are a snapshot in time and shouldn’t be used to base broad assumptions on. Having said that, a rate of three per cent is probably a record for the Kootenays. I cannot recall
such a low rate at any time in my 12 and a half years as an MLA,” said Kootenay East MLA Bill Bennett, who is also B.C.’s Minister of Energy, Mines and Natural Gas. The Kootenays’ unem-
ployment rate has been dropping consistently all year, since peaking at 7.8 per cent in January. Last month was the lowest it has reached in at least two years. Based on figures from
January to September 2013, the Kootenay unemployment rate is 4.9 per cent. During the same period in 2012, the rate was 7.3 per cent. The lowest annual rate in the past 10 years was in 2008, when 4.9 per cent of the population were jobless. Last month, 796,000 people were employed in the Kootenays, leaving just three per cent of the region’s population without jobs. Elsewhere in the province, the northeast region had a rate of 4.9 per cent and Victoria had a rate of 5.3 per cent. On the higher end of the scale, Vancouver, the mainland/ southwest region and Abbotsford/Mission all had an unemployment rate of 7.1 per cent.
See JOBLESS , Page 4
Rotary Way extended from 30th Ave. North Work has started to connect the bike and pedestrian path to Rails to Trails SALLY MACDONALD Townsman Staff
PHOTO COURTESY JENNY HUMPHREY
THE GREAT PUMPKIN: Wally Smith of Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement checks out the official weight of Kate Ruoss’s gargantuan Atlantic pumpkin, while Kate herself looks on. The vast vegetable was grown out at Fort Steele Heritage Town and was the subject of a “Guess the Weight” contest on Thanksgiving Sunday. For the verdict, see Page 2.
A new piece of Cranbrook’s popular cycle and walk trail Rotary Way has been paved. The 400-metre section begins at the traffic light on Highway 3 opposite the Chamber of Commerce, then runs beside Joseph Creek to the intersection of Kokanee Drive, Panorama Road and 30th Avenue North. The newly paved trail is part of what’s known as the Rotary Way Link. When it is completed next year, the Link will extend Rotary Way from 30th Avenue North to the start of North Star Rails to Trails behind Home Depot.
See ROTARY , Page 3