One in a row does not make a trend.
Saskatchewan has long been among the national leaders when measuring job vacancies. It is usually us and BC that top the list among the provinces. And, for different reasons. For BC, it is because people are moving away in search of affordable housing leaving employers scrambling to fill job openings.
Here in Saskatchewan, it is because employers are creating jobs faster than we are attracting people to fill them. That makes us an attractive place for people hunting for employment.
There was an aberration in this story, though. It was in July when Saskatchewan’s job vacancy rate fell, leaving in the lower ranks of job opportunities. But then August figures came out and we’re back in second place behind BC. July’s figures, it would appear, were one of those statistical anomalies and not a trend.
There were more than 17,000 open positions in Saskatchewan in August – roughly equal to all the jobs in Weyburn and Estevan. That translates into 3.4-percent of total employment, about one-third lower than it was a year earlier.
