( file photo/paNOW Staff)

By Glenn Hicks

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January job numbers: province tops nation

Feb 5, 2021 | 3:39 PM

The latest Statistics Canada labour force figures paint a better picture for Saskatchewan relative to the rest of the country, while the provincial government is calling the numbers ‘remarkable.’ Meanwhile, Prince Albert’s monthly figures remain unreported.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Saskatchewan in January was the lowest among the provinces at 7.2 per cent, and well below the national rate of 9.4 per cent. The provincial unemployment rate in the province in Feb. 2020, the month before the COVID-19 pandemic, was 6.3 per cent.

“The comparative performance of the Saskatchewan economy during the COVID-19 pandemic has been remarkable,” Immigration and Career Training Minister Jeremy Harrison said in a media release. “Once again, Saskatchewan has the strongest jobs performance in the country and is leading in export growth as well.”

Harrison said while Saskatchewan had not been immune to the global impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the province had “demonstrated incredible resiliency as we lead Canada’s economic recovery.”

The media release said Saskatchewan’s seasonally adjusted employment grew by 2,200 jobs (+0.4 per cent) on a month-to-month basis, adding the latest Statistics Canada Merchandise Exports figures showed Saskatchewan ranked first among the provinces in percentage change with an increase of 2.5 per cent, compared to 2019.

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Saskatchewan merchandise exports were valued at more than $30 billion in 2020. Saskatchewan was one of only two provinces to grow their merchandise exports in 2020, the release said.

City of P.A.

For the city of Prince Albert, the specific unemployment data regarding the numbers of unemployed, and the percentage rate, were unavailable for the second consecutive month due to issues around the small sample size.

The January figures did, however, reflect a slight increase in the number of people making up the labour force. All numbers are seasonally adjusted and Statistics Canada strongly advises using only year-over-year data for the sake of comparison.

Last month, the P.A. labour force was 21,800 out of a total population of 34,700. Of those, 20,700 were employed. In December, the labour force was at 21,600 from a population of 34,800. Of those, 20,600 were employed.

Year-over-year, Statistics Canada reported a population and labour force decrease in Prince Albert. In January 2020, there were 35,000 people living in the city, with a labour force of 23,700. The unemployment rate was 7.2 per cent in Jan. 2020.

Prince Albert and North

In the much wider area known as Prince Albert and North, with a population of 156,800, Stats Canada reported an unemployment rate of 7 per cent for last month with 7,200 people unemployed. In Jan. 2020, the jobless number for this wide region was 6,600 for an unemployment rate of 6.2 per cent.

National picture

Statistics Canada says the Canadian economy lost almost 213,000 jobs in January as employment fell to the lowest level since August last year, wiping out the gains made in the fall.

The unemployment rate rose 0.6 percentage points to 9.4 per cent, the highest rate since August.

With files from The Canadian Press

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow