British Columbia's jobless rate climbed to 6.7 per cent in February as 4,900 jobs vanished across the province.

The highest unemployment rate in B.C. was for people between 15 to 24 years old at 11.6 per cent.

But men over 25 took the biggest hit. Their unemployment rate jumped from 5.6 per cent to 6.5 per cent. It's a trend career counsellors are also seeing.

In the past month, more than half of the clients who use Transitions Career and Business Consultants had been laid off. Many of them are middle age men who are only a few years away from retirement, says coordinator Cindy McMillan.

"We are seeing people that are laid off that are older, who've been in a job for a long time and haven't had the time or the ability to upgrade and are needing to get more skills before they become employed again."

McMillan says a lot of job losses are from the hospitality and tourism sector. Finance, insurance and jobs in the real estate sector are also drying up.

"You have to know your skills well, know who you are, what you want, what kind of company you want to work for, and really sell that," she says.

The faltering economy was at the top of the agenda as Premier Gordon Campbell met with his western counterparts at a joint cabinet meeting today.

"I believe that timber, energy, minerals potash and agriculture will all be resources in demand from the Asia Pacific," he told reporters.

The new Statistics Canada numbers have also prompted a demand by the B.C. Federation of Labour for the province to come up with an action plan to protect jobs.

Federation President Jim Sinclair wants the province to place a moratorium on layoffs in the public sector, raise the minimum wage and work to reverse job loses in the forest industry.

But Technology, Trade and Economic Development Minister Ida Chong says the figures are not as bad as she was expecting.

She says the half point climb since January could suggest B.C. is beginning to shake off the worst of the recession but she admits others are calling the February figures nothing more than a "pause."

Chong says next month's jobless statistics should answer that question.

Breakdown by city

Major cities in B.C. followed the trend in February, shedding jobs as the economy continues to sputter.

Vancouver's unemployment rate is pegged at 5.5 per cent, up from 5.1 per cent in January, while Victoria's rate jumped seven basis points to 4.7 per cent.

Abbotsford's jobless rate rose to 6.2 per cent, moving up from 5.8 per cent in January.

In Kelowna, 6.6 per cent of residents were looking for work, up just marginally from January but a substantial hike when compared to the city's 5.1 per cent unemployment rate in February of last year.

And in Prince George, the jobless rate stands at 7.5 per cent, up nearly two full percentage points when compared to last February.

National numbers

Despite the climb, B.C.'s jobless number are one of the brighter lights in a bleak unemployment picture right across the country.

Nationally, the number of people looking for work jumped to 7.7 per cent from 7.2 in January -- well ahead of B.C.'s rate of 6.7 per cent last month.

Alberta's rate climbed one full point in February, the largest hike among the provinces, but it remains at 5.4 per cent, the second lowest behind Saskatchewan at 4.7.

Statistics Canada says 82,600 jobs vanished across Canada last month.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday he expects Canada's jobless rate to get worse over the next several months.

"We are seeing and are expecting a surge of unemployment this year," Harper warned Friday after a speech in London, Ont., a few hours after Statistics Canada revealed the jobless rate.

In Montreal, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said Ottawa hasn't been upfront with Canadians when it comes to unemployment and the crumbling economy.

He said Canada is losing 15 jobs for every 10 lost in the United States and that Harper needs to stop saying Canada is in better shape than its southern neighbour.

The jobs lost in February were nearly twice the losses economists had expected and appeared to undermine Harper's prediction earlier this week that Canada will emerge from the global recession and financial crisis faster than any other country.

Canada's difficulties were also evident in new trade figures released Friday showing the foreign trade deficit grew to $993 million in January from $652 million the previous month, with exports falling 7.9 per cent.

With files from The Canadian Press and a report by CTV British Columbia's Leah Hendry