Prince Albert gained jobs in 2019, the latest data from Statistics Canada shows.
December’s labour force statistics indicate that 300 more people were working in the city in December 2019 than one year prior.
Combined with a slight reduction in the labour force, meaning fewer people were either working or actively looking for work, the unemployment rate fell by 2.1 percentage points from 8.9 per cent to 6.8 per cent.
The employment rate saw a related increase, growing from 63.2 per cent to 64 per cent.
The region, identified by Statistics Canada as Prince Albert and Northern, also saw an increase in jobs.
According to the data, the population dipped by an estimated 1,200 people, while the number of people working grew from 96,600 to 100,100.
The changes led to an increase in the employment rate to 63.5 per cent and a decrease in the unemployment rate from 7 to 5.7 per cent.
Provincially, employment was little-changed in 2019 after the province saw growth in 2018.
According to Statistics Canada, gains in the services sector were offset by losses in the good-producing sector. Saskatchewan finished with an unemployment rate of 5.7 per cent.
Nationally employment rose by 35,000 in December, with the unemployment rate falling 0.3 percentage points to 5.6 per cent.
Over the course of 2019, Canada’s employment increased by 320,000 or 1.7 per cent.
Full-time work grew by 1.9 per cent, adding 283,000 jobs in 2019.
The number of hours worked didn’t see much change in 2019.
