Job numbers remain strong

Saskatchewan had the strongest employment growth and lowest unemployment rate in Canada in June, according to the latest employment report released today by Statistics Canada.

As a result, there are now more people working in Saskatchewan than ever before. 568,200 people were working in Saskatchewan in June, breaking the record of 560,900 set just one month earlier. There were 19,300 more people working on a year-over-year basis, a 3.5 per cent rise which is the highest percentage increase among the provinces.

"Saskatchewan has the strongest economy in Canada and that's creating thousands of new jobs and opportunities for Saskatchewan people," said Advanced Education Minister Don Morgan. "Our government set ambitious employment targets in the Saskatchewan Plan for Growth and we're making progress on those targets by investing in training and participating in recruiting initiatives to attract skilled workers to Saskatchewan."

Saskatchewan's unemployment rate was 3.7 per cent in June (seasonally adjusted), the lowest in Canada and well below the national rate of 7.1 per cent. Regina's unemployment rate was 3.7 per cent and Saskatoon came in at 3.9 per cent. Regina had the lowest unemployment rate among major cities and Saskatoon had the second lowest rate.

Other highlights include:

There have been 19 straight months of year-over-year increases in employment;

Over 90 per cent of the new jobs created in the past year (17,400 out of 19,300) were full-time jobs;

There were 12,000 more women working in Saskatchewan than a year ago, accounting for over 60 per cent of the employment growth;

By sector, the largest employment gains in the past year were in agriculture (6,200), trade (5,200), professional, scientific and technical (4,000) and construction (2,900); and

Off-reserve Aboriginal employment was up by 1,200 for five consecutive months of year-over-year increases.