Saskatchewan posts lowest unemployment rate in Canada

For the second straight month, Saskatchewan was the only province in Canada to record an increase in employment.

In data released Friday, Statistics Canada said the number of people working in Saskatchewan rose by 4,100 jobs (0.7 per cent) from April. Nationwide, employment was down by 68,000 (0.4 per cent) from the previous month.

In Saskatchewan, increases were posted in retail trade, transportation, warehousing, information, culture and recreation.

The unemployment rate fell from 6.6 per cent in April to 6.3 per cent in May. It’s the lowest rate in the country.

“May’s job numbers show that Saskatchewan is leading Canada’s economic recovery,” Immigration and Career Training Minister Jeremy Harrison said in a media release.

“Saskatchewan employers are hiring as shown by over 7,500 jobs posted currently on Saskjobs.ca, and recent private sector investments, worth billions of dollars, will create thousands of more good jobs and opportunities for Saskatchewan people in the months and years ahead.”

According to the government, Saskatchewan’s seasonally adjusted employment (563,300) has recovered 98.4 per cent of its pre-COVID employment level from February of 2020 (572,700).

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Harrison credited the public with following public health measures, which he said allowed businesses to continue operating.

“And it really is a testament to the fact that we have had just remarkable degrees of compliance from the individual level but also from our business community, who have done just a great job,” Harrison said.

Saskatchewan’s job gains were evenly split between full-time and part-time employment. They came in service industries, among them wholesale and retail trade, transportation, education and information, culture and recreation.

Meanwhile, the goods-producing sector saw jobs decrease in agriculture, natural resources, utilities and construction.

Harrison was not worried about the sector-specific numbers in month-to-month comparisons. He said construction season is about to start and public investment will also lead to jobs.

“I know in the real world, there are going to be people who are going to be working in construction in very high numbers because of the fact we’re going to have thousands employed in new construction projects,” he said.

For the country as a whole, the loss of 68,000 jobs marked the second consecutive month of declines after 207,000 jobs were lost in April.

The unemployment rate was 8.2 per cent in May, little changed from the 8.1 per cent in April because the number of unemployed people in Canada overall stayed relatively steady.

What changed is that more people dropped out of the labour force in May, including workers who simply got discouraged and gave up looking for work.

The statistics office says there were 49,700 discouraged job-searchers last month, or 9.3 per cent. Those who wanted work but did not look for work was more than twice the average of 22,000 seen in 2019.

Friday’s data release also notes that 28,000 more core-aged women, those between age 25 and 54, didn’t look for work in May as third wave restrictions continued in Ontario and other regions of the country.

Statistics Canada says the unemployment rate would have been 10.7 per cent in May had it included in calculations those people who wanted to work but didn’t search for a job.

May’s job losses put the country about 571,100 jobs, or three per cent, below pre-pandemic levels seen in February 2020.

But the actual gap may be larger once adjusting for population growth during the pandemic, which would put the labour market about 763,000 jobs, or 3.9 per cent below the February 2020 levels.

Statistics Canada says employment in goods-producing sectors dropped for the first time since April 2020, including in manufacturing that saw a decline of 36,000 jobs in May.

Despite the losses, economists expect things will improve over the coming months as provinces are set to loosen restrictions and reopen economic activity like after the second wave of the pandemic, says TD senior economist Sri Thanabalasingam.

“Except this time the acceleration in the vaccine rollout may provide employers with added confidence, thereby boosting hiring intentions,” he writes in a note.

But he adds that fewer people in the job market could mean the country faces labour shortages just as demand for workers is set to recover.

— With files from The Canadian Press