Saskatchewan employment levels in June up from last year StatsCan

Employment levels in Saskatchewan soared to record-setting levels last month, according to the latest labour force survey released by Statistics Canada on Friday.

The data indicated there were 521,100 persons employed in the province last month, which was up by 11,200 compared to June of last year.

The unemployment rate was a seasonally adjusted 4.0 per cent, which is down from 4.4 per cent in June of last year and down from 4.1 per cent in May of this year.

"Our government is pleased to see more Saskatchewan residents engaged in our workforce and sharing in the province's economic momentum,'' commented Advanced Education, Employment and Labour Minister Rob Norris.

A news release issued by the government noted the June employment levels were the highest recorded for any month in the province's history.

Harry Van Mulligen, the NDP MLA for Regina Douglas Park, said the job numbers are good news and a continuation of the positive trend the province has been experiencing for more than a year.

But Van Mulligen said there is concern that rising prices for housing, gasoline and other products are putting a strain on family budgets.

The Saskatchewan dream of home ownership is becoming increasingly difficult to reach for many young families of modest means, Van Mulligen said.

Norris said the economic boom has created "challenges'' including higher housing prices, a shortage of labour and the need to upgrade infrastructure.

"We are rolling up our sleeves and working on them,'' Norris said Friday.

Efforts have been made to recruit more workers from outside the province, to lure former Saskatchewan residents back to the province and to more fully involve various groups (like First Nations for example) in the workforce, Norris said.

The government has also acted to assist lower-income people facing high housing costs, Norris said.

Doug Elliott, an independent observer who publishes the Sask Trends Monitor newsletter, said the job numbers are positive.

"This is pretty much the same story,'' said Elliott, who noted the province's economy has been booming for more than a year, with some monthly fluctuations in the rate of employment growth.

While employment grew in several economic sectors, one of the exceptions was agriculture where the number of people employed was down by 2,800 compared to last June.

But that drop in agriculture employment may be another sign of the good economic times, Elliott said. With grain prices and land prices up, many older farmers appear to be taking the opportunity to sell their land and get out of the business, he said.

Manufacturing employment also dropped by 1,100 jobs last month. But Elliott said that may simply be a routine fluctuation rather than an indication of any significant trend.

Employment in the forestry, fishing, mining and oil and gas industries was up by 4,700 jobs compared to last June. Construction employment was up 2,300 jobs and employment was up by 3,800 jobs in the health care and social assistance sectors.

Full-time employment was up by 14,700 jobs but part-time employment was down by 3,500 jobs. Those figures indicate that many people who wanted full-time jobs in the past but were forced to settle for part-time have been able to find full-time employment as the economy has strengthened, Elliott said.

The 4.0-per-cent seasonally adjusted rate in Saskatchewan was below the national unemployment rate, which was up slightly to 6.2 per cent in June from 6.1 per cent in both June of last year and May 2008.

Alberta, which had a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3.3 per cent, was the only province with a lower unemployment rate than Saskatchewan last month.

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Saskatchewan employment levels in June up from last year StatsCan