Dear Editor:In the February 9th issue of Yorkton this week, an editorial was written in regard to the employment numbers across the province and the Yorkton-Melville region.
The editorial provided details of a recent Stats Canada report that showed a loss of 1300 jobs in the Yorkton-Melville region in 2010. MLA Greg Ottenbreit countered the reports stating that the NDP were only looking at one side of the ledger and he said 1500 jobs were created in the area.
As indicated in the editorial each side can present the numbers in a way that can favor their position. In an effort to allow the public to form their own opinion it would be fair to provide them with the complete details of the report along with information contained therein as well as information on how to access the report themselves so it doesn't have any spin on it.
The report in question was the Labour Force Characteristics by economic region conducted by Statistics Canada which is conducted every three months. It can be found by visiting http://www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/lfss05e-eng.htm.
The complete details of the report are as follows:The report shows data from January 2010 to January 2011.Population: + 2000Labour force: - 400Employment: - 1300Unemployment: + 900Participation rate: - 500Unemployment rate: +2.2%Employment rate: -1.9%
As you see in the report there were clearly 1300 jobs lost and a 2.2% increase in the unemployment rate in the Yorkton-Melville area over the past year.
Anytime you see a spike in unemployment of this nature in one year it's a cause for concern. There are currently 440 jobs posted on SaskJobs.ca in the region, however in our research over 150 are part time positions and another 175 are for minimum wage positions.
The Yorkton-Melville area went from having one of the best employment rates at 3.7% to one of the worst second only to Northern Saskatchewan at 5.9% in just one year. This reason for this increase is unknown, but the first step in addressing the problem is acknowledging there is one.
Yours sincerely, Chad BlenkinNDP Candidate Yorkton
