The latest Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada was released Friday, and it shows that while the unemployment rate provincially was down in January, it did creep up in the southeast, especially outside of Regina.
Southeast Saskatchewan is part of the Regina-Moose Mountain Economic Region when it comes to the Labour Force Survey that is collected each month by Statistics Canada. In January, the entire region saw 2500 fewer people working, which resulted in the unemployment rate going from 4.8 percent to 5.1 percent.
The majority of the lost jobs were in Regina itself, where 2100 fewer people were working. The rest of the region, which includes Weyburn and Estevan, saw 500 job losses. The economic region outside of Regina, had an unemployment rate of 6.8 percent in January, the highest it has been since June of last year, when it was at 7.4 percent. Regina’s unemployment rate went from 4.4 percent to 4.7.
The participation rate in the labour force in the southeast, which is the number of people who are either employed, or ready and able to work, was 63.4 percent, the lowest in a year, and the third lowest since January 2021.
Provincially, the unemployment rate fell slightly, going from 5 percent to 4.7. This is the third lowest unemployment rate in the country, behind Manitoba and Quebec. The national unemployment rate was also down slightly in January, from 5.8 to 5.7 percent.