Saskatchewan ended 2018 on a high-note after showing steady employment growth province wide.

In a year-over-year comparison, Saskatchewan’s employment increased by 10,900 jobs from December 2017, representing the fifth consecutive month for job gains within the province. The growth rate of 1.9 per cent also shows favourably across all provinces with Saskatchewan ranking second for job growth among the provinces.

Although the energy sector is facing some degree of uncertainty, the provinces other major contributing sector, agriculture, was largely at the helm of the increase with a reported gain of 5,000 jobs. From 2007 to 2018, Saskatchewan had the third highest employment growth rate among the provinces at 12.9 per cent.

Other highlights from last months reports include educational services up 3,900 jobs and health care and social assistance up 3,700 jobs. Female employment rose 1.6 percent for a total of 4,200 jobs where male employment saw an increase of 2.3 per cent or 6,800 jobs, compared to last December.

The province’s unemployment rate also had favourable numbers showing a year-over-year decrease of 0.9 per cent to sit at 5.6 per cent which is on par with the national average.