Saskatoon unemployment above the national average

Saskatchewan’s unemployment had a positive jump in July, adding 13,000 jobs — however, Saskatoon’s unemployment remains high.

According to Statistics Canada, Saskatchewan saw it’s unemployment rate fall 2.8 per cent month-to-month, currently sitting at 8.8 per cent.

Saskatoon’s unemployment rate is improving, but it’s still above the national average of  12.3 per cent.

The bridge city is currently sitting at 12.7 per cent, a big difference compared to this time last year when the city was at 5.8 per cent, according to Sylvia Martini, Interim CEO of the Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce.

“Four-hundred-thousand new jobs across Canada is encouraging, but some industries have been totally devastated,” Martini said.

“Smaller, local businesses are struggling because they don’t have the deep pockets to compete, causing great job losses in those workplaces.”

The jobs report said racialized workers were the most affected in terms of jobs lost across Canada, along with unemployment rates being higher for women than men.

“There is an unequal impact on the workforce as stats Canada has reported, more immigrants or racialized workers have been harder hit by the pandemic as there are more people in accommodations or food services,” according to Martini.

It’s not all bad news, as some sectors throughout Saskatchewan are flourishing under the difficult times, allowing them new opportunities that they wouldn’t have necessarily thought of before.

“Our tech sector has been thriving, opportunities in regards to new products or services involving people working from home or remotely,” she said.

“I think there is going to be great opportunities in new technologies that will allow people to live in their home longer, people will be able to accomplish more work from home.”

Martini also stressed the importance of local businesses continuing to make adjustments to their models to pivot and survive during this time of uncertainty.

“We are seeing an improvement from the June numbers, I hope we continue to see improvement,” she said.

“We need to remain diligent and safe.”