Paul Martin Commentary
Saskatchewan employers ended last year with 16,500 job postings going unfilled.
The year-end job vacancy report shows Saskatchewan was gradually narrowing the gap between supply and demand in the labor market by year-end but we still had one of the highest vacancy rates in the nation.
Sixteen-and-a-half-thousand jobs translate into 3.2-percent of the overall workforce. Only BC had a higher rate at 3.4-percent.
But there is an important difference we have to keep in mind when making this comparison: Saskatchewan has jobs going unfilled because we don’t have enough people to keep up with the growth in job creation; BC has vacancies because it is losing people who can’t afford rent in Vancouver.
The December figure on vacancies was nearly a quarter point lower than November’s Saskatchewan number and quite a bit lower than it was a year ago as the gap between population growth and job creation gradually shrinks. Even so, at 3.2-percent Saskatchewan remains one of the best places in the country for someone looking for a job.
