Released on April 6, 2001
New figures from Statistics Canada show while the agricultural economycontinues to affect Saskatchewan's job growth, there are lots of reasons
for optimism.
Labour force figures released today show an increase of 2,400 non-
agricultural jobs from March 2000 to March 2001. Over the same period, the
agricultural industry lost 13,800 jobs.
Despite those losses in agriculture, employer confidence is high.
Statistics Canada's Help-Wanted Index was released Thursday and shows
Saskatchewan was at its highest level in 11 years and had the largest
increase of any province between February and March of this year. This
index is an indication of employers looking for workers.
"Our agricultural crisis continues to affect an otherwise robust economy,"
Economic and Co-operative Development Minister Eldon Lautermilch said.
"Our businesses are looking to hire, though, and that will translate into
solid job growth and opportunities for Saskatchewan people over the long
term."
Job increases over last year were recorded in manufacturing, oil and gas,
mining, forestry, finance, insurance and real estate, as well as public
administration. Economic forecasters at the Conference Board of Canada and
the Toronto-Dominion Bank are indicating continued strong GDP growth for
Saskatchewan in 2001. TD's figure of 2.5 per cent growth outpaces the
national average of 2.2 per cent.
Lautermilch noted while jobs dropped overall from March to March, the
number of people working in Saskatchewan in March, 466,800, was second only
to last year's record for the number of people working in the month.
Saskatchewan had the third lowest unemployment rate in the country at 6.1
per cent in March, compared to the national rate of 7.6 per cent. At 5.0
per cent, Regina had the second lowest unemployment rate among major
Canadian cities.
"While our job numbers will fluctuate from month to month, they continue to
show solid growth that suffers only by comparisons with last year's record
numbers," Lautermilch said. "Our diversification efforts of the last
decade have helped us build a strong economy, and have positioned us to
connect to a bright future."
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For more information, contact:
Bob Ellis
Economic and Co-operative Development
Regina
Phone (306) 787-1691
Note to Editors: These are seasonally unadjusted figures as supplied by
Statistics Canada. Adjusted and unadjusted figures can be found on
Statistics Canada's website: www.statscan.ca