Year-to-date employment in June 2019 was up over the same period in 2018 in Agriculture (3,083), Utilities (200), Manufacturing (2,000), Finance, insurance, real estate and leasing (1,667), Professional, scientific and technical services (1,633), Business, building and other support services (1,467), Educational services (2,567), Health care and social assistance (2,750), Information, culture and recreation (867), Accommodation and food services (2,867), and Other services (1,917).

Year-to-date employment in June 2019 was down in Resource Extraction (-1,700), Wholesale and Retail Trade (-3,733), Transportation and warehousing (-2,367), and Public administration (-617).

The average year-to-date unemployment rate dropped from 6.3% in June 2018, to 5.5% in June 2019. Year-to-date, the average number of unemployed is down from 34,440 in May 2018 to 33,450 in June 2019 with the majority of these being absorbed into the employed labour force.

 

 

 

April 2019 year-to-date retail trade is up by 1.0% over the same period in 2018. Sub sectors that posted increases were: Gasoline stations (4.2%), Furniture and home furnishings stores (0.7%), Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers (9.1%), Health and personal care stores (1.0%), Sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores (2.1%), Grocery stores (5.6%), Beer, wine and liquor stores (1.3%), General merchandise stores (3.3%), and All other (7.9%).

During the same time period, New car dealers (-6.0%), Used car dealers (-3.0%), Electronics and appliance stores (-33.5%), and Clothing and clothing accessories stores (-0.2%) posted declines.

April 2019 year-to-date wholesale trade was up 13.9% over the same period in 2018. Building material and supplies merchant wholesalers (3.5%), and All other (424.7%) all posted increases, while Farm product merchant wholesalers (-0.3%), Food, beverage and tobacco merchant wholesalers (-4.0%), and Machinery, equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers (-1.0%) saw declines. 

April 2019 year-to-date new motor vehicle sales were down -0.5% from March year-to-date 2018. New minivans, sport-utility vehicles, light and heavy trucks, vans and buses sales were up 2.0% while  New passenger cars sales were down -14.2%.

April 2019 year-to-date restaurant receipts were up 3.2% over the same period in 2018. Within restaurant receipts, Full-service restaurants (3.2%) and Limited-service eating places (5.7%) increased. At the same time, declines were noted in Special food services (-6.5%) and Drinking places (alcoholic beverages) (-11.2%).

 

 

 

Sub sectors that posted increases were: Metal ores and non-metallic minerals (29.1%), Metal and non-metallic mineral products (15.7%), Basic and industrial chemical, plastic and rubber products (28.6%), Industrial machinery, equipment and parts (5.7%), Motor vehicles and parts (1.9%), Aircraft and other transportation equipment and parts (316.7%), Consumer goods (31.3%), and Special transactions (8.3%). Sub sectors that posted decreases were: Farm, fishing and intermediate food products (-1.5%), Energy products (-12.0%), Forestry products and building and packaging materials (-18.1%), and Electronic and electrical equipment and parts (-23.7%).

 

 

 

Construction employment continued to decline in 2018 and into the first 6 months of 2019. Year-to-date June construction employment was down by 1,883 positions from the same period in 2018 in tandem with weak housing and residential building permit activity.

June 2019, total year-to-date housing starts are down by -602 units or -42.0%. Year-to-date declines were noted in singles (-128 units or -23.4%), semi-detached (-4 units or -5.3%), row (-48 units or -27.3%), and apartment and other types (-422 units or -66.6%)

May 2019 year-to-date building permits are down -7.1% over the same period in 2018.     

Sub sectors that posted increases were limited to industrial (12.4%) and commercial (22.9%). During the same time period, residential (-29.3%) and institutional and governmental (-23.0%) posted declines.

 

 

 

Year-to-date employment in June 2019 was up over the same period in 2018 in Information, culture and recreation (867).

 

 

 

2019 Q2 Provincial population was up 0.9% over 2018 Q2 to 1,169,131 on the strength of international in-migration. This can be expected to continue throughout the rest of 2019 with a surging labour market.

 

 

 

Saskatchewan manufacturing sub sectors that posted increases were:

• Food manufacturing sales (24.7%)
• Fabricated metal product manufacturing sales (5.6%)

Sub sectors that posted decreases were:

• Chemical manufacturing sales (-11.0%)
• Machinery manufacturing sales (-6.5%)
• All other Manufacturing sales (-2.8%)