The latest numbers from Statistics Canada’s monthly Labour Force Survey were released Friday morning, and they show that things are holding steady in southeast Saskatchewan. 

The unemployment rate for the Regina-Moose Mountain Economic Region, which includes Weyburn, Estevan and surrounding communities, was 4.7 percent in February. This is slightly up from January when the unemployment rate was 4.3 percent.  

The main driver for the increase was the increase in the number of people who were part of the labour force, that is, people who were employed or unemployed and looking for work during the reference period last month. There were 1900 more people who were part of the labour force last month, with 1000 more people working than the previous month. 

The majority of the change happened in Regina, according to the data. When Regina was taken out of the equation, the remaining communities had a combined unemployment rate of 2.2 percent. This was unchanged from January.  

Compared to the position the area was in 12 months ago, things are looking to be much improved, with a reduction in the unemployment rate for the economic region by 3.4 percent. The unemployment rate is also down by 2.5 percent from where it was at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Regina-Moose Mountain economic region also has the 13th lowest unemployment rate amongst all 325 economic regions in the country and has the lowest unemployment rate in Saskatchewan. 

Provincially, the unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, went from 5.5 percent to 4.7 percent. This has Saskatchewan sitting with the second-lowest unemployment rate in the country, behind Quebec.