Stats Canada's numbers for March 2012 show that Saskatoon had over 800 more people working in March 2012 compared to a month earlier and over 5000 more people working compared to 6 months earlier. So should we strap in and get ready for an even bigger boom? Well, let's dig a little deeper at the numbers.
First, let's look at full time employment.
*Note this graph should say ( in thousands)
Full time employment has improved by just over a couple thousands jobs in the last half year. It looks like the majority of employment growth has been part time. This could partly explain why Saskatoon is lacking in average wage growth compared to Regina and the province as a whole.
Next, let's take a look at some of Saskatoon's labor force indicators.
The unemployment rate is at 5.9%, quite high compared to
November 2009 when it was at 3.9% . But on the other hand, Saskatoon is relatively better than the national average of 7.2%. As of March
2012 the participation rate (The participation rate is the number of
labor force participants
expressed as a percentage of the population 15 years of age and over) is
at 69.8%, still down from the August 2009 peak of 76.3%. And the
employment rate (The employment rate is the
number of persons employed expressed as a percentage of the population
15 years of age and over) is at 65.6%, down from the August 2009 peak of 72.5%.
So I don't think we should get ready to strap for in an even bigger boom, as the unemployment, participation and employment rates are not exactly blowing my skirt up at the moment. With that said, I believe this year, Saskatoon will set a record high for total employment, which is a great thing, but it will not be able to touch participation and employment rate highs and the unemployment rate low.
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