The latest job numbers from Statistics Canada were released Friday morning, and nationally, they have never been better. The unemployment rate at the national level dropped to 5.3 percent in March, which Statistics Canada says is the lowest on record. This comes with the creation of 72,500 jobs across the country. 

Here in the southeast, the numbers weren’t as positive but were still rather strong. The Regina-Moose Mountain economic region, which includes Weyburn and Estevan, saw the unemployment rate go up from 4.7 percent to 5.0 percent, unadjusted for seasonality. The reason for the increase was the loss of 900 jobs in the parts of the region outside of Regina.  

The unemployment rate for the economic region is also well ahead of where it was a year ago, with 11,700 more people working compared to March of 2021, and the unemployment rate is down from the 8.4 percent it was in March of 2021. 

At the provincial level, there were 4500 fewer people working in Saskatchewan in March, bringing the unemployment rate up to 5.0 percent from 4.7 percent, adjusted for seasonality. The provincial unemployment rate continues to be one of the lowest in the country, behind only Quebec, which had an unemployment rate of 4.1 percent. Saskatchewan’s unemployment rate is also lower than both neighbouring provinces, with an unemployment rate of 5.3 percent in Manitoba, and 6.5 percent in Alberta. 

The news not helping the Canadian dollar, however, as the loonie went up slightly when the numbers were released, before coming back down to below where it closed Thursday. By 7:00 a.m. Saskatchewan time, it was down by .08 cents, trading at $0.7931 USD.