Southeast Saskatchewan boasts 2.7% unemployment despite provincial, national job losses

While the national and provincial economies faced headwinds in February, southeast Saskatchewan proved to be a major outlier with an exceptionally tight labour market.

Nationally, the unemployment rate ticked up 0.2 percentage points to 6.7 per cent last month, driven by a decline of 84,000 jobs. Saskatchewan followed a similar trend, with the provincial unemployment rate rising 0.3 points to 5.6 per cent as overall employment dropped by 5,500.

However, localized data paints a vastly different picture for communities outside the Regina area.

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A localized job boom

According to the latest figures from Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate for the region outside of Regina plummeted to just 2.7 per cent in February. This marks a notable improvement from January, when the local rate sat at 3.4 per cent.

In February, the southeast region outside of Regina had a labour force of 41,000 people, with 39,800 employed and only 1,100 actively looking for work. Comparatively, the nearby Regina Census Metropolitan Area saw its unemployment rate climb from 6.9 per cent in January to 7.0 per cent in February. The city’s rate pulled the overall Regina-Moose Mountain Economic Region’s unemployment rate up to 6.1 per cent.

What is driving the southeast?

A closer look at the employment characteristics outside of Regina shows exactly what is powering the southeast’s job stability.

Wholesale and retail trade
This sector remains the dominant employer, growing from 6,600 jobs in January to 7,400 jobs in February. The industry now makes up 15.42 per cent of the local workforce.

Resource extraction
The energy and resource sector saw significant month-over-month growth. It employed 5,200 people in February, representing 10.83 per cent of the region’s workers, up from 4,600 people the month prior.

Health care and social assistance
This sector remained steady, employing 4,900 people in February, matching the 4,900 employed in January.

Agriculture
The agriculture sector saw a slight seasonal dip, dropping from 4,300 workers in January to 4,100 in February.

Saskatchewan wage trends

When it comes to compensation, Saskatchewan workers are earning slightly less than the national average, though key local sectors remain lucrative. In February, the national average weekly wage was $1,361.60, with a national median of $1,192.40.

Provincially, the average weekly wage across all occupations rose to $1,270.35 in February, up from $1,247.78 in January. However, the median weekly wage in Saskatchewan actually fell month-over-month, dropping from $1,134.80 in January to $1,120.00 in February. This resulted in an average-minus-median wage difference of $131.40 for all occupations last month.

Management occupations remain the highest-paying field in the province, boasting an average weekly wage of $2,120.38 and a median of $2,099.63 in February. Workers in natural resources and agriculture earned an average of $1,519.99 per week, a sharp decline from the $1,715.87 average seen in January. The median wage for natural resources and agriculture in February sat at $1,442.50.

Read more:

• Warm spring-like weather expected across southern Saskatchewan
• Rising oil prices could push Canadian food prices even higher
• Multi-brawl game that drew 572 penalty minutes a ‘black eye’ on N.L. hockey: official