OTTAWA – Saskatchewan’s unemployment rate remains the lowest in the country for the twenty-fourth straight month according to numbers released Friday by Statistics Canada. The agency also reported there were almost 4,000 less people working in the province during November.
The unemployment rate dropped a tenth of a percentage point to sit at 3.4 per cent. Around 20,400 people were not working during November, a drop of 500 from October.
MORE: Unemployment rate ticks up to 6.6% as job market sputters in November
The number of people working during the month dropped by 3,900 with almost 4,500 people leaving the workforce. Statistics Canada officials say the drop in the workforce may be due to retirement, people returning to school or staying home to care for family members.
Job growth, however, continues to lead the country on a year-over-year basis, with 15,200 more people working in November than a year ago. That’s a yearly increase of 2.7 percent, the fastest growth rate in the country.
A release from the government said 5,700 new jobs were created in wholesale and retail trade over the past year, along with 4,900 jobs in finance, 4,700 in forestry, mining, oil and gas, and 3,700 new construction jobs.
Jeremy Harrison, the minister responsible for immigration, jobs, skills and training, said some of those jobs are highly skilled positions that require people with specialized training.
The Opposition had a different take on the job numbers, saying 1,700 jobs were lost in health care and social services.
“Health care workers, case workers for vulnerable children, education sector workers – cutting these jobs as our province grows makes no sense at all,” said health critic Danielle Chartier.
The NDP also pointed to job losses other sectors, such as transportation, education and information as signs the province is moving in the wrong direction to withstand a drop in oil prices.
Harrison said the increase in new jobs in different sectors points to the diversification of the economy.
“These new jobs have been created in many different sectors, which means if one sector slow down a bit, other areas of the economy are there to continue creating jobs and driving growth,” said Harrison.
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