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