Province adds 4,600 jobs over last year - 2,800 over last month

Labour Force Hits All-Time High, Unemployment Rate at 5.4 Per Cent.

Saskatchewan continues to demonstrate strong labour force growth, with 4,600 new jobs year over year according to newly released labour force figures from Statistics Canada with the labour force climbing to 632,800 an all-time high. Monthly job gains showed 2,800 jobs created, ranking 3rd among the provinces.

“With each month of growth, Saskatchewan gets closer to achieving its Growth Plan goal of adding 100,000 jobs by 2030,” Immigration and Career Training Jeremy Harrison SAID. “Investment in Saskatchewan is driving our economic growth, but our strong labour force is critical to Saskatchewan’s continued advancement on our goal of making Saskatchewan the best place to live, work and raise a family.”

Saskatchewan’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.4 per cent, which is the third lowest amongst the provinces.

August 2023 saw all-time historical highs (aged 15 and over), with Saskatchewan’s labour force reaching 632,800andSaskatchewan’s full-time employment reaching 504,000. In addition, August 2023 also set a record high for the month of August (aged 15 and over) for off-reserve Indigenous full-employment, which reached 56,300.

Saskatchewan’s largest cities also saw year over year growth in August, with Regina’s unadjusted employment up 9,500, an increase of 6.7 per cent, and Saskatoon’s employment was up 3,700, an increase of 1.9 per cent when compared to August 2022.

Major year-over-year gains were reported for:

• Transportation and warehousing, up 5,700, an increase of 22.2 per cent;

• Business, building and other support services, up 5,400, an increase of 50.5 per cent; and

• Professional scientific and technical services, up 4,900, an increase of 16.1 per cent.

Saskatchewan continues to demonstrate its economic strength through other recent indicators, including having it’s Aa1 (stable) credit rating reaffirmed by Moody’s Investor’s service on August 1, 2023. In addition, housing starts showed year-over-year growth according to figures released by Statistics Canada in August, increasing 50.7 per cent from July 2022 to July 2023, the second-highest growth in the nation compared to other provinces. Saskatchewan also led Canada in GDP growth last year at 5.7 per cent.