Unemployment rate in Sask. edges up to 6.9 per cent

Saskatchewan shed 2,800 net jobs from October to November while losing its boasting rights for lowest unemployment rate in the country.

The province's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose 0.5 points to 6.9 per cent. Saskatchewan now has the second lowest rate among the provinces, after Nova Scotia, according to Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey released Friday.

The Saskatchewan Party government has frequently pointed to the province's comparatively low unemployment rate in underlining the relative strength of Saskatchewan's economic recovery.

The November job losses suggest the pace of the recovery was sputtering after months of slowing growth. Employment had picked up sharply over the summer after heavy losses in March and April. But employment fell 1,600 from September to October. The November numbers point to a steeper, though still modest, drop.

The numbers released Friday reflect conditions from Nov. 8 to 14, just as COVID-19 case numbers in Saskatchewan reached new heights but before the province put strengthened business restrictions in place.

Saskatchewan employment is still lagging behind pre-pandemic levels. There were 20,800 fewer jobs last month than one year earlier. The Saskatchewan NDP was eager to draw attention to the new numbers, linking them to “weak leadership” that doesn't put local jobs first.

But the government noted that Saskatchewan's unemployment rate remains “the lowest in Western Canada.”

“Saskatchewan continues to weather the storm caused by the fall surge of the COVID-19 pandemic,” trade and export development minister Jeremy Harrison said in a release that also pointed to high growth in merchandise exports.

Saskatchewan's job numbers did look good in comparison to some of its neighbours. Manitoba lost 18,100 net jobs in the latest report, while employment was down 10,800 in Alberta. Saskatchewan's unemployment rate remains far better than those provinces, though it was barely ahead of Quebec and British Columbia. The national unemployment rate was 8.5 per cent.

The wholesale and retail trade subsector was the hardest hit last month in Saskatchewan, losing 2,300 net jobs in November. Natural resources and construction were flat. The strongest growth was in public administration.

Though accommodation and food services recovered slightly, that sector remains far behind its pre-pandemic levels and is down 10,000 net jobs relative to November 2019. Full-time employment was up in Saskatchewan by 1,500. All of the net losses came from part-time employment.