Saskatchewan received some very positive news economically through the first month of 2012.

The province led the way in several categories, including retail sales, wholesale trade and non-residential building permits, and also had strong numbers for employment and weekly earnings.

"We've seen almost every private sector forecaster rank Saskatchewan either #1 or #2 projected for economic growth this year and also the next number of years", says Enterprise Minister Jeremy Harrison who is expecting the strength seen in January to continue for the remainder of the year.

Wholesale trade in particular saw some of the largest increases, according to Harrison. "Up 22.3% over November 2010, the best increase in Canada. We've seen retail sales up the highest percentage in the country. Some very positive news... we have the highest population we've ever had and more people working in the province than ever before."

As government, Harrison says they will continue to work at balancing budgets and creating the investment for growth in the province so the economic strength can continue.

Colin Powers spoke with Jeremy Harrison about the latest economic figures for the province...