29 August, 2014

Saskatchewan's Employment Growth Stronger than First Thought

Revised labour force numbers released by Statistics Canada show employment growth in Saskatchewan is even stronger than first reported last week.
There are 8,700 more people working in Saskatchewan than a year ago.  Saskatchewan's employment growth rate of 1.5 per cent is second-highest in Canada and above the national growth rate of 0.9 per cent.
Saskatchewan's unemployment rate is just 3.2 per cent (seasonally adjusted) - the lowest unemployment rate ever recorded since Statistics Canada began keeping this statistic in 1976.  Saskatchewan's unemployment rate is less than half the national rate of 7.0 per cent - the lowest rate in Canada and lower than 49 of 50 U.S. states.
Associate Minister of the Economy Jeremy Harrison said.  "It is clear that Saskatchewan's economy continues to shine on the national stage, where we are outpacing the majority of provinces when it comes to jobs and opportunities."
Other revised highlights include:

• Employment reached a record 572,800 (compared to 570,200 in the original report for July) and labour force reached a record 593,900 (compared to 591,600 in the original report for July);
• Month-to-month, employment was up 2,500 or 0.4 per cent (seasonally adjusted), compared to an increase of 500 or 0.1 per cent originally recorded for the month of July;
• Youth unemployment rate was 6.1 per cent (seasonally adjusted), the lowest among the provinces, and below the national rate of 13.1 per cent.  This is compared to 6.6 per cent originally recorded for the month of July;
• Regina's unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) was 3.3 per cent, down from 3.6 per cent in June and down from 3.6 per cent a year ago.  Saskatoon's unemployment rate was 3.5 per cent, down from 3.8 per cent in June 2014 and down from 4.0 per cent a year ago.  Saskatoon's unemployment rate was the second lowest, and Regina's unemployment rate was the lowest, among all Census Metropolitan Areas;
• Year-over-year, construction had the largest number of job gains (+7,900) among the 16 major industries, with 15.7 per cent growth from a year ago.  Agriculture (+3,400) ranked 2nd, while educational services (+2,800) and forestry, fishing, mining, oil and gas (+2,800) tied for the 3rd largest employment gains.  

 "We also learned that our manufacturing sector - one of Saskatchewan's major job creating industries - realized a record 10.3 per cent increase in shipments year-over-year for the month of June," Harrison said.  "This is just more positive news for a province that has earned a reputation as the place to live, work, invest and do business in Canada."
www.saskatchewan.ca