The job numbers in June in this province headed in a new direction.

The monthly survey of employment activity conducted by StatsCan shows Saskatchewan reversed its growth trend in June. We had been one of the few provinces tracking upward this spring and early summer but June saw a decline. We lost a few hundred people in the working-age population – something we’ve been seeing for a while as inter-provincial migration is seeing more people leave than move here.

And that led to a reduction in the number of people who were available to work – that fell by 4,000 as the number of jobs tallied in the survey fell by 6,000. It was relatively evenly split between full and part-time positions.

That pushed the other primary job-related indicators – the employment and this is not that far off the performance we saw across the country. The big provinces – Ontario, Quebec, and BC – posted gains as the lockdowns were eased and people could return to work. So their numbers went up for the first time in a while. This province had fewer restrictions comparatively speaking but openings in other regions made it easier to relocate from here.