REGINA — Canada's economy took a step back in April, shedding 18,000 jobs and pushing the national unemployment rate up to 6.9 per cent.
Saskatchewan was not immune to the cooling labour market. According to the latest Labour Force Survey, released by Statistics Canada Friday morning, the province lost 4,000 jobs in April. The job losses pushed the provincial unemployment rate to 5.6 per cent, up from 5.0 per cent in March.
While Saskatchewan recorded the third-highest rate increase in the country last month, trailing only Prince Edward Island and Quebec, the province still boasts the second-lowest overall unemployment rate in Canada.
A closer look at Saskatchewan's economic regions reveals a mixed bag of fluctuations, with some areas seeing sharp increases while others held steady.
The Swift Current-Moose Jaw region experienced the most significant jump, with its unemployment rate surging to 7.0 per cent in April, up from 5.8 per cent the previous month. The Prince Albert and Northern region also sits at 7.0 per cent, though that figure represents a slight improvement from the 7.2 per cent recorded in March.
In the Saskatoon-Biggar region, unemployment rose half a percentage point to 5.8 per cent. Meanwhile, the Regina-Moose Mountain region was the only area to see no month-over-month change, holding steady at 5.7 per cent.
The Yorkton-Melville economic region saw unemployment climb to 5.3 per cent last month, an increase from 4.5 per cent in March.
