(CKOM News staff)

By Karen Brownlee/CKOM News staff

Saskatchewan adds 58,700 jobs year over year, with 9,500 in April alone

May 7, 2021 | 6:31 PM

It’s a good time for those looking for work in Saskatchewan — particularly those in wholesale and retail trade, health care and social assistance, or construction — according to Statistics Canada.

Across all industries, Saskatchewan added 9,500 jobs in April compared to March for an increase of 1.7 per cent. Year over year, the province has seen an increase of 58,700 jobs. That’s up 11.7 per cent from April 2020.

Year over year, these three industries added the largest number of jobs in Saskatchewan. In April, there was an increase of 23.6 per cent in the number of jobs in wholesale and retail trade in Saskatchewan, as the industry added 17,000 jobs compared to April of 2020.

Health care and social assistance added 11,800 jobs year over year, an increase of 15.1 per cent. In construction, there were 9,000 more jobs, a jump of 23.9 per cent year over year.

Industries that had the biggest number of jobs lost year over year were agriculture, finance and insurance as well as transportation and warehousing. Those went down 6,200 or 15.8 per cent in agriculture, 2,500 or 8.6 per cent in finance and insurance, and 2,100 jobs or 9.2 per cent in transportation and warehousing.

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Month over month, manufacturing, information, culture and recreation and educational services added the most jobs. Between March and April, there were 2,600 more jobs in manufacturing. There 2,000 more jobs in information, culture and recreation as well as educational services.

Saskatchewan’s employment rate in April was 62.9 per cent, which is up. A month earlier, it was 61.8 per cent and a year earlier, it was 56.3 per cent.

Canada’s employment rate in April was 59.6 per cent, which is down slightly from a month earlier, when it was at 60.3. But it’s up from a year earlier, when it was 52.1 per cent.

Saskatchewan’s population of working age people has grown by just 900 year over year, which is just a 0.1 per cent increase. The percentage of people participating in the workforce in the province rose slightly in April to 67.3 per cent compared to 66.7 per cent the same month last year.

Unemployment was at 6.6 per cent in April, a significant drop year over year — it was 11.2 per cent last April — and lower than a month earlier, when it was at 7.3 per cent. The pandemic began in mid-March of 2020.

Unemployment in Canada was at 8.1 per cent last month compared to 13.1 per cent in April of last year. That’s up slightly from March, when it was at 7.5 per cent.

A higher percentage of people in the country are participating in the workforce at 64.9 per cent this year in April compared to 60 per cent in April 2020. But that participation rate is down slightly compared to a month earlier, when it was 65.2 per cent. The population of working-age people in the country grew by 257, 300 year over year.