The latest numbers from Statistics Canada shows things remained fairly steady in southeast Saskatchewan, while the rest of the province saw improvements in the job numbers, as did the rest of the country.

The latest Labour Force Survey showed the unemployment rate in the southeast remained at 5.2 percent in August, unadjusted for seasonality. This was due to the loss of 1200 jobs in the region across the whole region. At the same time, 1400 hundred people left the labour force, in that they were not working or actively looking for work.

As for the rest of the province, the creation of 5300 full-time jobs, and 2800 net jobs helped reduce the unemployment rate. It fell from 5.4 percent to 5.1 percent.

Nationally, the job market exceeded expectations. Economists were predicting there would be an increase in roughly 15,000 jobs. The number was much higher, with the economy creating over five times the estimate - 81,100.

On the national level, the unemployment rate remained steady at 5.7 percent.