Compared to one year ago, there were 8,000 more people who were unemployed and looking for work in Saskatchewan in January.
That’s according to a new Statistics Canada report released Friday, which shows that the unemployment rate has now hit 6.1 per cent, or 5.6 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis.
“The Sask. Party just boasted and coasted when times were good – and we can’t trust them now that times are tight,” said NDP deputy leader Trent Wotherspoon. “The biggest job cuts are in education. It’s brutal that the Sask. Party’s answer to job losses in the oil industry is to also make deep cuts in classrooms, post-secondary schools and training and retraining. That’s backwards and short-sighted.”
“Apparently, the Sask. Party’s strategy for helping those who need shelter, employment support or even medication is to cut them off, give them a bus ticket, and send them on their way. That’s disgusting – and it’s certainly not a plan to get the province out of the hole. This is making the Sask. Party’s shipping of billions of dollars in investment and jobs to foreign corporations even more damaging.”
Industries that lost jobs compared to one year earlier include: education (4,700 jobs lost); public administration (2,600 jobs lost); construction (2,200 jobs lost); mining, oil and gas (1,900 jobs lost); business and building services (400 jobs lost); transportation and warehousing (300 jobs lost); and agriculture (200 jobs lost);