New figures from Statistics Canada show for two straight years, Saskatchewan families took home less money.

During 2016, Saskatchewan families' median after-tax income fell 3.1 per cent. For individuals living alone, that same measure of take-home pay fell 10.3 per cent in a single year.

In its 2016 Canadian Income Survey, released Tuesday, Statistics Canada attributed some of that to a rapid drop in world oil prices in 2016, and weakness in the resource sector.

"This is a broadly based decline," said Doug Elliott, publisher of Sask Trends Monitor, a newsletter published by the Regina-based consulting firm QED Information Systems.

"We've got less money to spend than we had a year ago."

Elliott said this is unusual because the province has enjoyed year-over-year income growth for all but three of the past 20 years.

'It's getting a little tougher'

In Saskatoon, heavy equipment operator Danny Turner said he's trying to stretch money for bills, food and fuel as he awaits shoulder surgery this week.

"You don't go with the prime rib or whatever, you'll go with the sirloin," Turner said as he loaded groceries into an aging sedan. "I don't go out and do too much anymore."

Turner has no pension. The monthly benefits he draws from worker's compensation were recently reduced.

"I gotta stay positive. I have no choice." he said. "It's a little tough trying to find some work and people wanting to employ a guy with a few little disabiltiies."

Sask. consumers expand loans, credit card debt

Across the parking lot, Rashed Hamad clutched a single bag of groceries. He told CBC his bills are growing, but wages are not.

'Making money is not getting better but the price of everything is going up,' Rashed Hamad said. (CBC) "Groceries, housing, gas, bills, everything," Hamad said. "I'm now getting into more and more debt, my credit card balance is going up."

A recent report from TransUnion said that starting late in 2016 and throughout 2017, Saskatchewan consumers racked up more in loans and lines of credit than the national average.

"We're just now starting to see delinquency rates drop," said Matt Fabian, TransUnion's director of research and industry analysis, noting that may be a sign of more economic stability.

"Generally people will miss credit card payments because the perception is it's not as big of a deal as if you miss an auto payment or a home payment," Fabian said.

Loss of high-salary jobs, fewer hours worked

The overall drop in income for Saskatchewan people "came as a bit of a surprise to me," admitted Elliott.

Median income changes over time for all Saskatchewan families and what Statistics Canada calls "unattached individuals". He said during 2016, average wages in the province rose 3.3 per cent, which means people here have started working fewer hours, or taking jobs with lower pay.

Saskatchewan's median after-tax income for both families and unattached individuals in 2016 was $59,700, down from $60,300 the year before. That represents a one per cent drop.

"That's two years in a row where we've had less money to spend than we had the year before," Elliott said.