January job numbers show positive trends in Saskatchewan, Canada

The first month of 2023 showed some positive trends in the provincial and national job markets.

Saskatchewan added 4,500 new jobs in January, according to numbers released by Statistics Canada. Over the past 12 months, Statistics Canada said employment in the province has jumped by 14,000, an increase that was credited in part to “gains across the services-producing sector.”

The provincial unemployment rate fell from 4.4 per cent to 4.3 per cent in January, Statistics Canada’s data showed. That’s a big drop from January of 2022, when the province’s unemployment rate stood at 5.6 per cent.

Jeremy Harrison, Saskatchewan’s minister of immigration and career training, said many of the new jobs will help support important industries.

“Our province is off to a great start in 2023, with thousands of new jobs across many of Saskatchewan’s various and vital industries,” Harrison said in a statement.

Nationally, Canada’s employment increased by 150,000 in January, and the country’s unemployment rate remained steady at five per cent, Statistics Canada said.

Employment across Canada has been trending upward since September of 2022, Statistics Canada said. Canada’s employment rate jumped to 62.5 per cent in January, the highest it’s been since April and May of 2019.

Meanwhile, Canada’s population is continuing to rise, with Statistics Canada saying the third quarter of 2022 showed the fastest rate of population growth in more than 50 years, a trend “mainly driven by an increase in non-permanent residents.”