With a booming population, Saskatchewan's got plenty of jobs to offer people from far and wide.
According to new population estimates from Statistics Canada, Saskatchewan's population jumped by 17,064 people in 2011 to an all-time high of 1,067,612. That's the biggest increase in one year since 1953, when the population grew by 18,000.
Saskatchewan's 2011 growth rate of 1.62 per cent was the second-highest in Canada, behind only Alberta. Net international immigration increased Saskatchewan's population by 10,660 in 2011 while the natural increase (births minus deaths) accounted for 5,223 more people.
Saskatchewan also saw an increase of 5,200 jobs in March compared to a year ago. Employment of 522,000 is a record high for the month of March.
Full-time employment increased by 9,100 for 11 months of year-over-year gains. This total full-time employment of 425,600 was a new high for the month of March.
Saskatchewan's unemployment rate in March 2012 was 4.8 per cent, down from 5.0 per cent in February. The province's jobless rate was the lowest in the country and well below the national unemployment rate of 7.2 per cent.
"Working people drive our economy and they continue to benefit from higher weekly earnings and a robust economy that is a leader in Canada," Advanced Education, Employment and Immigration Minister Rob Norris said. "Our job market offers many choices for workers and our province is a great place to raise a family."
SaskJobs.ca experienced more than one million hits in March, which is the highest ever number of visits in one month since the site went live on November 1, 1999.
There were 1,074,900 visits to the site in March, which is an increase of 13.5 per cent over the same month last year.
Career opportunities in Saskatchewan have attracted much interest in connection with the province's job recruitment mission to Ireland, which ranked as the country with the most international traffic on SaskJobs.ca with 13,706 visits.
Last month, Premier Brad Wall and Advanced Education, Employment and Immigration Minister Rob Norris led a labour recruitment mission to Ireland along with 27 Saskatchewan employers.
"Saskatchewan is now a 'have' province with a vibrant economy and a growing population, "Premier Brad Wall said. "That's a big change from just a few short years ago."
Saskatchewan also continues to build momentum.
"With these positive job numbers, a growing population and record high earnings for workers, we are continuing to build momentum for the rest of the year," said Rob Norris. "Confidence in our economy is strong. More Saskatchewan businesses are looking to hire new workers immediately and in the long term."
In order to serve job seekers better, a brand new SaskJobs.ca mobile site is now operational. The new mobile site allows browsing by location, job category and key words, all from mobile devices.
"SaskJobs.ca is now more accessible to people anywhere and anytime," Norris said.
