Saskatchewan adds 5K jobs in December: Statistics Canada

Saskatchewan had its first noticeable employment increase in 10 months as nearly 5,000 jobs were added to the economy in December.

Statistics Canada reported Friday that 6,100 part-time jobs were created during the month, offset by a loss of 1,100 full-time positions.

The unemployment rate increased by 0.4 percentage points from the previous month to 6.4 per cent.

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The agency said the increase was due to more people searching for work, with the number of people in the labour force increasing by 8,100 to 607,200.

The unemployment rate dropped in Regina by 0.1 percentage to 4.7 per cent while the rate held steady in Saskatoon at 7.6 per cent.

There was little change in both the employment and unemployment rate in Saskatchewan during 2017.

Nationally, the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in more than 40 years.

Statistics Canada says the unemployment rate dropped to 5.7 per cent in December, down from 5.9 per cent the month before, to reach its lowest mark since comparable data became available in 1976.

With files from The Canadian Press