The local and regional economies are bucking a jobless trend in B.C. and Canada.

Statistics released Friday in a labour force report showed B.C. lost almost half of the 30,400 jobs in Canada last month.

But B.C.'s minister of jobs, tourism and innovation, Pat Bell, noted while the province lost about 24,000 part-time jobs, it gained nearly 10,000 full-time positions in July.

"While you never like to lose jobs, gaining full-time jobs at the expense of part-time isn't the worst thing."

Bell said rural areas of B.C. that gained jobs last month include Kamloops, at 400, and Prince George, at 500. Those numbers include small sample sizes, however, and are not adjusted for seasonality.

The seasonally unadjusted jobless rate for the Thompson-Okanagan dropped to 6.2 per cent from 7.4 per cent in July last year. Bell said B.C.'s jobs plan is focusing on areas including forestry, mining, energy, agricultural and tourism.

"They're largely rural based . . . . When rural B.C. does well, it spins off to urban B.C."