The Saskatchewan labour market continues to perform, hitting record levels for the month of February. There were 551,600 people employed in the province in February, up 5,400 from last year (1.0 per cent) the second highest growth rate in the country. Full time employment was up 8,100 from last year.
"In spite of some very nasty weather in February, Saskatchewan's job market continues to out-perform most other Canadian jurisdictions," Economy Minister Bill Boyd said. "Most of the other provinces have been struggling with volatile labour markets over the last several months due to a variety of circumstances, yet we have been able to make some steady gains, particularly in full time jobs."
Saskatchewan had the lowest seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in Canada in February at 3.9 per cent, well below the 7.0 per cent reported nationally. The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in Regina was 4.0 per cent and 4.4 per cent in Saskatoon. Regina had the lowest unemployment rate among Canadian cities and Saskatoon ranked third. The youth unemployment rate was 9.0 per cent, second lowest among the provinces behind Alberta (8.3 per cent), and below the national rate of 13.6 per cent.
"What is most impressive about today's report is the fact we still have the lowest unemployment rate in the nation and are seeing improvements when it comes to Aboriginal employment," Boyd said. "It comes down to a strong economy with businesses who are hiring more people to keep up with the steady pace of growth."
Other highlights:
Private sector employment was up by 12,500 on a year-over-year basis.
Sectors reporting the largest increases over that same period were Transportation and Warehousing (+4,600), Accommodation and Food Services (+3,200) and Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (+3,000).
Off-reserve Aboriginal employment was up by 1,700 (4.2 per cent) for 13 consecutive months of year-over-year increases. Aboriginal youth employment was up by 500 (5.9 per cent) to 9,000 for nine consecutive months of year-over-year increases.
Regina's employment was up by 3,500 (2.7 per cent), and Saskatoon's employment was up by 7,800 (5.0 per cent).
