As more jobs are lost, more people are looking for opportunities in other provinces
The latest report from Statistics Canada shows that there were 7,800 fewer people working in Saskatchewan last month than were a year earlier. While every other province except Newfoundland and Labrador saw an increase in the number of people working, Saskatchewan had the biggest drop.
“Both of our neighbours to the west saw significant growth in jobs – nearly 46,000 more people working in Alberta – but, here in Saskatchewan, the Sask. Party’s heartless cuts and bad management cost us 7,800 jobs,” said NDP Jobs Critic Vicki Mowat. “On top of the jobs we’ve lost, these latest numbers are also troubling because they show that more and more people have given up looking for work here in Saskatchewan.”
When compared to the same time last year, the numbers show there are fewer people looking for work in Saskatchewan. This explains the change in unemployment rate despite the drop in the number of Saskatchewan people who were able to find work. This trend is supported by other recent statistics that show that 50 per cent more people left Saskatchewan to find opportunity in other provinces in the first nine months of 2017 than did during the same time period ten years earlier.
“There’s nothing for the Sask. Party to brag about here,” said Mowat. “They can play with the numbers all they want but the fact is, real Saskatchewan people are really losing their jobs.”
The Statistics Canada numbers also show a particularly steep drop in both youth employment (6,600) and in ‘professional, scientific and technical services’ (4,700) when compared to last year. The First Nations unemployment rate also continues to sit at close to 20 per cent.
“When we see the fastest growing population in our province continue to be ignored, and we see young and educated people finding it harder to find work here in Saskatchewan, it’s not only a problem for today – it’s a problem that will affect our ability to grow in the future,” said Mowat. “The people of Saskatchewan deserve better than being told we have to accept things as they are. We need the government to plan for the future, we need to partner with Indigenous communities, and we need to invest in diversifying and growing our economy.”
We also saw a significant drop year over year in the following areas:
- Agriculture: 3,800 jobs lost
- Construction: 3,100 jobs lost
- Trade: 2,500 jobs lost