The unemployment rate in Saskatchewan is slightly up from November, but is down significantly compared to last December, and is one of the lowest in the country. 

The latest numbers from Statistics Canada’s monthly Labour Force Survey were released Friday morning. At the national level, it showed the economy created 55,000 jobs in December, which moved the national unemployment rate from 6.0 percent to 5.9 percent.  

Here in Saskatchewan, the unemployment rate went up slightly, from 5.2 to 5.4 percent, despite 6,000 more people working in the province. This was primarily due to an increase in population, and 8,000 more people being part of the labour force.  

The occupations that saw some of the biggest gains were in education, law and social, community and government services with 1,800 more jobs. The biggest decline in the month was in sales and services occupations, with2,100 fewer jobs in that field in December compared to November.  

Regionally, the lowest unemployment rate was in the Yorkton-Melville economic region, with an unemployment rate of 4.4 percent. The region also had the largest jump in unemployment, going from 3 percent in November. 

The Regina-Moose Mountain economic region was the second-lowest unemployment rate at 4.6 percent, followed by the Saskatoon-Biggar economic region at 5.0 percent. The Prince Albert and Northern Saskatchewan economic region had an unemployment rate of 5.1 percent and the Swift Current-Moose Jaw economic region was unchanged for the month at 6.3 percent.