6,400 fewer people working in Sask. in November than a year ago: Stats Can

Thousands of full-time jobs have been lost in Saskatchewan in the past year, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.

The agency's monthly labour force survey for November, released Friday, said there were 561,400 people employed in the province during the week of Nov. 5-11 — a drop of 6,400 from last November.

Full-time employment dropped by 4,700 year over year and part-time employment by 1,700.

Agricultural employment accounted for the bulk of that drop. A total of 33,700 people were employed in agriculture in November, a drop of 4,900 compared to November 2016.

However, the province's labour force and the participation rate — the share of the working-age population that is working or looking for work — also dropped year over year.

The labour force dropped to 595,200 from 606,600 in November 2016, while the participation rate fell from 69.6 per cent to 67.7.

As a result, Saskatchewan's unemployment rate for November was 5.7 per cent, Stats Can said — lower than the November 2016 rate of 6.4 per cent.

These results are in contrast to the overall Canadian employment rate, which saw an increase in the number of workers year over year.

The labour force survey said Canada gained 80,000 jobs in November, while the jobless rate dropped four tenths of a percentage point to 5.9 per cent — the lowest since February 2008.