This one statistic probably does more to illustrate how different regions of the country are performing economically than any other. That statistic is about Saskatchewan’s job creation.
When StatsCanada tabled its monthly report on job creation, it noted that Canada posted an increase of 18,000 positions in October. Economists in the banks called that moderate but it was within the range they were expecting.
What they didn’t point out, however, was that Saskatchewan provided half of those new jobs.
Our figure was a gain of 9,100 in October. Alberta was 38,000 – more than the entire national total alone. To put this another way, Alberta and Saskatchewan created 47,000 positions in October while the rest of the country generated negative 29,000. The lion’s share of those losses – 22,000 – were in Quebec.
We sometimes to refer to the national economy as a teeter-totter where the West or Prairies are a mirror image of central Canada. When we’re up, they’re down and vice versa. These latest data put an exclamation point on that suggestion with the prairies currently in ascension and Central Canadian leading the country into a recession.
