Southwest Saskatchewan's unemployment rate followed the national trend last month increased by a few percentage points from the previous month.

According to Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate for the Swift Current and Moose Jaw area now sits at 3.6 per cent, an increase of 0.3 per cent from January of last year.

Despite the increase in the unemployment rate, the region sits tied for the second-best unemployment rate in the nation.

While the southwest saw an increase, both Canada and Saskatchewan saw decreases in their unemployment rate in a year-over-year comparison.

Canada's went from 6.6 per cent to 5.7 per cent, and Saskatchewan's went from 6.6 per cent down to 6 per cent.

In the southwest, the area had 81,400 residents representing a decrease of 400 from last year. A total of 52,300 are in the labour force with 50,300 of them working while 1,900 are unemployed.

 

January 2017

January 2018

Population

81,800

81,400

Labor Force

54,600

52,300

Employed 

52,800

50,300

Unemployed

1,800

1,900

Not in Labor force

27,200

29,100

Unemployment rate

3.3%

3.6%

Participation rate

66,700

64.3%

Employment rate

64,500

61.8%

 

All statistics courtesy of Statistics Canada