Surrey has recovered 29,000 jobs: Surrey Board of Trade

THE Surrey Board of Trade’s 5th Surrey Labour Market Intelligence Report on COVID-19-related impacts indicates that 29,000 jobs have been recovered since the beginning of the pandemic. Now Surrey is in a net deficit of just over 8,000 jobs, down from a peak of over 37,000 jobs lost since the beginning of the pandemic.

“While other surveys and statistics show dire business futures, Surrey shows good economic progression and a positive economic future,” said Anita Huberman, CEO, Surrey Board of Trade, on Monday. “However, we can’t lose sight of those businesses that are the hardest hit by the pandemic – and needing continued support by business organizations and government.”

Highlights

* The total estimated net deficit of jobs in Surrey since February 2020 is now just over 8,000 jobs, down from a peak of over 37,000 jobs lost.

* Since the end of July 2020, Surrey has recovered over 29,000 jobs (over 78% of the jobs lost between March and July 2020) with over 4,500 of these recovered jobs being attributed to the month of December. In the last half of 2020, the number of jobs has been on a steady incline.

* The Utilities industry is the only industry in Surrey that has trended in the opposite direction of overall jobs, with significant gains in the first half of 2020 (over 1,000 jobs gained) and consistent losses in the second half (over 750 jobs lost).

* The industries that have seen the strongest recovery, in terms of number of jobs recovered since July, include: Accommodation and Food Services (almost 7,000 jobs); Business, Building and other support services (over 4,100 jobs); and Transportation and Warehousing (over 3,300 jobs).

* Employment losses by occupation in December 2020 were seen in Manufacturing and Utilities occupations (approximately 690 jobs), Health occupations (approximately 400 jobs), and Art, Culture, Recreation and Sport occupations (approximately 187 jobs) in Surrey.

* Though Sales and Services occupations have seen a steady increase in jobs since July (over 1,000 jobs gained in December 2020), these occupations have seen the greatest overall loss in Surrey (over 10,000 jobs lost) since the beginning of the pandemic.

* Manufacturing and Utilities occupations show an overall net gain of jobs when compared to February 2020 (approximately 1,000 jobs), however these occupations have continually posted a job loss in every month of Q4 2020.

* Though in December, some jobs were recovered in both of the following industries, they have seen the greatest overall losses since February 2020: Wholesale and Retail (over 5,700 or 11.3% of jobs lost); followed by Construction (over 5,500 or 17.3% of jobs lost); Other Services (almost 4,100 or 26.9% of jobs lost); and Transportation and Warehousing (almost 2,200 or 7.9% of jobs lost).

FULL SURREY LABOUR MARKET INTELLIGENCE REPORT: https://businessinsurrey.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/SBOT-LM-Intel-Report-5-Draft-Final-2.pdf