It’s a case of “they said – they said” when it comes to jobs in the province and the most recent numbers from StatsCan. It’s all dependent on who is delivering the news – the Sask Party Government or the Opposition NDP.
Last week, the province released its take on the latest job numbers, touting strong and steady growth with 14,400 jobs (7,300 full-time and 7,100 part time) year over year. They also cited all-time historical highs in employment with 619,100 jobs and a labour force of 651,100.
"Saskatchewan's growing at its fastest pace in more than a century with more people living and working in the province than ever before," Immigration and Career Training Minister Jeremy Harrison stated. "Investment in Saskatchewan is driving historic economic growth and job creation, which allows us to take measures to keep life affordable in Saskatchewan, while making record investments in health care, education and our communities."
On the flip side, the same StatsCan report raised the ire of the opposition who interpreted the news as dire with the government sporting the second worst jobs record in Canada, particularly when it comes to full-time work and month over month results.
“Under Scott Moe and the Sask. Party, full-time jobs – mortgage-paying jobs – are down since last month. Families are struggling to send their kids to summer camp or take them on vacation. Scott Moe claims he cares about rural Saskatchewan, but it’s hard to believe him: under his watch, every region outside Regina and Saskatoon has lost jobs since he became Premier,” said Official Opposition Jobs and Economy Critic Aleana Young.
The alert was based on numbers that showed that Saskatchewan added 400 part-time jobs last month while seeing a drop of 1,200 full-time jobs, according to an NDP release. The statement goes on to note that Saskatoon was hardest hit seeing a loss of 4,500 jobs last month.
The NDP statement remained critical of what it claims are Sask Party decisions to engage out of province or out of country contractors and services. The release notes sole-source mammograms in Alberta, out of province travel nurses, and a US based company contracted to recycle tires erasing over 60 jobs.
Back to the macro view, the Government says the numbers from StatsCan look solid year over year with Regina's employment up 5,000, an increase of 3.4 per cent, and Saskatoon's employment up 5,400, an increase of 2.7 per cent, when compared to last June.