Photo courtesy Statistics Canada, Facebook.
The First Nations unemployment rate in the province is nearly three times the provincial average.
The latest numbers from Statistics Canada for the month of February indicate the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal unemployment widened from the previous month, with the non-Aboriginal rate unchanged from January’s 5.7 per cent and the Aboriginal unemployment rate increasing .02 per cent to 15.5 per cent.
Off-reserve unemployment in Saskatchewan increased 0.4 per cent last month to stand at 19.1 per cent.
The Metis rate dropped a tenth of a percent to 12.6 per cent.
The province showed an overall improvement, with its seasonally adjusted unemployment rate down 0.4 per cent to six per cent.
Last month 8,000 jobs were added in the province, representing a growth rate of 1.4 per cent: the highest in the country.
Nationally the unemployment rate was 6.6 per cent in February, which is its lowest level in more than two years.