‘Not much has changed:’ Unemployment still a problem in Sask.

People looking for jobs in Saskatchewan are running low on luck as unemployment rates rise in the province.

Saskatchewan’s jobless rate has risen from 5.1 per cent in July to 5.4 per cent last month, according to Statistics Canada.

Jim Bence, president and CEO of Hospitality Saskatchewan, said unemployment has been an ongoing problem.

“Across the province, we are still seeing and hearing from a lot of operators that are needing people. Not much has changed,” Bence said.

He noted that the past few years have been difficult for the industry, especially after the pandemic when unemployment hit an all-time high.

Bence said there are a number of reasons why the jobless number is on the rise. He suspects it could be due to people retiring early, or people going in other directions and wanting to try working in a different field.

He thinks part of the solution could be immigration.

“There’s more people that are going to be coming to Canada,” he said. “It’s a matter of making sure that there’s an appropriate job match so that folks that are coming are getting into appropriate employment and that they’re able to be retained and get good training and move up the ladder within their specific industry.”

In a news release, the Saskatchewan Government said 2,800 jobs were created over the last month.

Carla Beck, Saskatchewan NDP leader, was not impressed by those numbers and said the unemployment rate is a failure of the provincial government.

Bence said job creation is great, but delivering on the promise of employment that is the challenging part.

“We’re moving in the right direction and there’s excitement around the economy, which is always positive. Having said that, we want to make sure that we’ve got enough people to fill those positions,” he said.

“We can’t over promise and under deliver. If we’re having a good economy and we’ve got people coming to our promise to enjoy what we have, we got to make sure that we deliver on that promise.”

Bence said it’s important to have discussions about barriers that may be preventing people from employment, like affordable housing, child care and transportation.

“We’re going to have to leave no stone unturned to make sure that we’re getting people to work in the positions that we have available,” said Bence.

He said he also wants to challenge terminology used within the workforce.

Bence said referring to those with little to no experience or in entry-level positions as “unskilled workers” is wrong because everyone has to start somewhere. He said hospitality is a great place for that.

“When we talk about the labour force in the tourism and hospitality industry, we’ve got a number of positions in which we can be the first job that people have,” he said.

He said seven out of 10 youths get their first jobs in hospitality.

“We’ve become a place in which youth and other underrepresented groups can gain a foothold in the workforce and then really start to make some decisions as to how they want to improve in that industry,” he said.

Bence and Hospitality Saskatchewan work with BelongSK.ca, a portal for people to submit résumés which potential employers have access to.

He also encouraged employers to share all their job postings to SaskJobs.ca.