There were more declines in the unemployment rate and the total number of jobs in the southwest last month.

The latest report from Stats Canada shows the number of people employed in Swift Current/Moose Jaw dropped from 50,600 in December of 2010 to 48,900 this past December, but the unemployment rate continues to drop, thanks to a shrinking labour force. The jobless rate for our area sits at 3.9%, a full one-per cent drop from December 2010. The labour force dropped from 53,300 to 50,900 over the last year.

Meanwhile, Saskatchewan as a whole added 3700 jobs over the past year, but the unemployment rate rose slightly to 5.2 per cent, the second-lowest in the country.
 
Those looking for work are still able to find plenty of opportunities available in Saskatchewan. The provincial government's job listings website, saskjobs.ca, had a record breaking year in 2011 with over 150,000 job openings posted, an increase of more than 39,000 from the year prior.

In addition, the amount of visitors to the website grew to record numbers as well with 9.8 million over the last 12 months.

As of right now, 479 of the jobs listed on the website are located within the Swift Current area.