The Government of Saskatchewan is reporting that there has been a record increase of jobs in the province for the seventh consecutive month.
In a statement, it is reported that Saskatchewan’s year-over-year employment increased by 9,000 jobs from February 2018.
This marks the seventh consecutive month of strong job gains for the province and represents a record number of jobs for the month of February.
The statement says the private sector continues to be the key driver of job growth, adding 14,100 jobs since February 2018.
The job gains were split between full-time and part-time increases, with full-time jobs up 5,800 and part-time jobs up 3,200.
“It is encouraging to see job growth for the seventh consecutive month,” Immigration and Career Training Minister Jeremy Harrison said. “Despite the significant economic headwinds facing our province, our industries continue to drive positive job growth. Our government will continue to stand up for Saskatchewan families and work hard to ensure our province and economy remain strong.”
The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 5.8 per cent, on par with the national average.
In the meantime, there were also other notable gains during February:
- Female employment, full-time employment and overall provincial employment – all hit record highs for the month of February.
- Major year-over-year gains were reported for health care and social assistance up 4,200 jobs; finance, insurance, real estate and leasing up 3,600 jobs; agriculture up 3,600 jobs.
- Regina's employment was up 1,300 jobs (+0.9 per cent), and Saskatoon's employment was up 6,500 jobs (+3.9 per cent) compared to last February.
January also saw some positive highlights:
- Saskatchewan had record high labour force, employment, full-time employment, male and female employment for the month of January.
- Youth employment up 1,800 jobs year-over-year.
