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The province’s 6.2-per-cent unemployment rate remains below the 6.4-per-cent national average, but it is up from the 5.1 per cent recorded in December 2015 due to employment contracting faster than the labour force, the government data bureau reported Friday.

Saskatchewan’s labour force — the number of people aged 15 and older who are eligible to work — shrank by 2,900 last year, while the economy shed a total of 7,900 full- and part-time jobs on a year-over-year basis, StatsCan data shows.

Private sector jobs were harder hit than public sector jobs in January. The finance, insurance and real estate sector is down 13 per cent, agriculture is down eight per cent and construction is down nine per cent.

“So there are more jobs in the public sector … so that’s the why the labour market isn’t any worse than it is because the public sectors still employing … if the rumours about the March (provincial budget) are true, then that’s going to change as well,” Elliot said.

The province’s situation stands in stark contrast to the national economy, which added 86,800 full-time and 131,300 part-time jobs over the past 12 months, resulting in a 0.3-percentage-point decline in the unemployment rate.

“There were jobs, jobs everywhere, and this time, they were offering a full day’s work,” CIBC Economics’ Avery Shenfeld said in an analyst note, which described the national employment picture as “a stunner.”

On a municipal level, Saskatoon’s 7.3-per-cent unemployment rate — up 1.2 percentage points from December 2015 — remains well above the national average, while Regina’s 5.0 per cent rate is more than a full point below the average.

Saskatoon’s economy is more dependent on natural resources than Regina’s, and has been deeply affected by weak potash, uranium and oil prices, which have led to layoffs and cutbacks in primary and secondary industries.

On a national basis, the only major centres with higher unemployment rates than Saskatoon are St. John’s (9.4 per cent) and Calgary (10 per cent), both of which have been similarly gutted by collapsing resource prices.

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