Saskatchewan's unemployment rate was a full point below the national rate in January. (650 CKOM file photo)

By CKOM News

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

Sask. unemployment rate drops to 4.7 per cent as province adds jobs

Feb 9, 2024 | 1:26 PM

Saskatchewan’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.7 per cent in January.

The province’s unemployment rate dropped from five per cent in December thanks to the addition of 12,900 new jobs last month, compared to January of 2023.

Nationally, the unemployment rate for January was 5.7 per cent, which declined from 5.8 per cent in December. The country added 37,000 jobs last month, Statistics Canada reported, which comes as welcome news after several months with almost no job gains.

The gains were mainly in part-time work, while accommodation and food services saw the largest declines in the country.

January’s growth exceeded the expectations of many forecasters, which suggests that the Bank of Canada might delay a decision to cut rates.

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“Today’s data suggest that the bank won’t be in a rush to cut interest rates, and we maintain our expectation for a first move in June,” said Andrew Graham, CIBC’s executive director of economics.

Saskatchewan set a January record for its labour force, which reached 623,300 last month.

Jeremy Harrison, Saskatchewan’s minister of immigration and career training, celebrated the job gains.

“Saskatchewan continues to excel in 2024, with strong job growth, a low unemployment rate and a growing labour force,” Harrison said in a statement.

“Building our labour force to support our economy is a top priority to our government. This is why the province is consistently making strategic investments to promote economic growth and is actively supporting employers to help them train, recruit and retain the talent needed to fill job vacancies and build a skilled workforce.”

The provincial government said Saskatchewan is also seeing good signs from other key indicators of growth, including urban housing starts, which were up 86.5 per cent in December when compared to December 2022.

The value of building permits reached $249 million in November, which the government said was a jump of 83.9 per cent over November of 2022. That, the province said, marked “the highest increase in all of Canada.”

Housing sales were also up in the province in January, marking the seventh consecutive month of gains.

— With files from The Canadian Press