REGINA - The province is touting new labour figures from StatsCan showing job increases in January.
According to the government’s news release, Saskatchewan has 16,400 new jobs when compared to January 2022, an increase of 2.9 per cent. It is also a 4,500 gain month over month.
The seasonally adjusted provincial unemployment rate was 4.3 per cent in January, compared to 5.6 per cent for the same month 2022 and 4.4 per cent in Dec. 2022. The unemployment rate is the third lowest among all the provinces and is also lower than the national rate at five per cent.
The province is also reporting record highs in January for the provincial labour force at 606,300; for total provincial employment at 578,600; and total full-time employment at 466,600.
Full-time employment was up by 4,700 or one per cent, with part-time employment up by 11,500 or 11.5 per cent.
"Our province is off to a great start in 2023, with thousands of new jobs across many of Saskatchewan's various and vital industries," Immigration and Career Training Minister Jeremy Harrison said in a statement. “Saskatchewan's economy is full of opportunity for newcomers and residents alike, and our government looks forward to strong, continued growth that works for everyone in the coming year."
As expected the opposition New Democrats reacted by issuing a news release trashing the Sask Party government for what they call the worst job creation rate in the country.
“Under Premier Scott Moe, the Sask. Party has the worst job creation record among all the provinces over the last five years, a fact that was confirmed again today,” said Opposition Leader Carla Beck in a statement. “What we need is an all-of-the-above approach to job creation to build opportunities and create good-paying jobs for years to come.”
The opposition pointed to figures over the last five years that showed Saskatchewan with the worst job creation record among provinces with only a 4.2 per cent increase since 2018, and they also noted that Saskatchewan ranked last among provinces with a 3.3 per cent increase in full-time employment. The NDP also cited year-over-year figures showing the province ranked eighth at 2.5 per cent, and last at 0.2 per cent when it came to employment and full-time job creation, respectively.
“The Premier and the Sask Party are the worst economic managers in the country,” said Jobs and Economy Critic Aleana Young in a statement. “Saskatchewan people need more jobs and bigger pay-cheques, not a government happy being the worst job creators in the country.”
