Saskatchewan’s economy truly does operate as a mirror opposite of what goes on in Central Canada. The latest job numbers are a good example of this teeter-totter effect where we are up when they are down and vice versa.
According to the Labor Force Survey or job numbers that came out Friday, Saskatchewan lost 1,400 jobs in October. They were all permanent positions. In fact, the number of full-time jobs fell by 5,200. Part-time spots grew by 3,700.
Pretty much the entire decline can be attributed to a reduction in the workforce: in other words, fewer people wanted to work. That could be retirements, people just quitting their jobs and sitting on the sidelines or simply moving away.
Ontario, on the other hand, has been hurting from the tariff impact on manufacturing. Even so, they generated 54,000 new jobs in October, the exact opposite of the situation in Saskatchewan. Quebec followed suit, adding more than 11,000 positions.
Manitoba followed us, dropping 4,000 positions while Alberta, which saw a big decline last month, got most of them back with a gain of more than 10,000 jobs last month.
