Southeast Saskatchewan saw the creation of 1000 jobs in December. This dropped the unemployment rate for the region to 4.9 percent from 5.3 in November. It is the second lowest unemployment rate recorded in the region in 2018.

The latest numbers from Statistics Canada, released Friday morning, show there were 184,500 people working in the Regina-Moose Mountain economic region, which includes Weyburn and Estevan. The number of people unemployed also declined, falling by 600.

The numbers for the region are opposite what was seen in the rest of Saskatchewan, as the unemployment rate increased in the province from 5.5 percent to 5.6 percent. While there were 100 more people working in Saskatchewan in December compared to November, there are was also an increase of 400 people who were unemployed.

Nationally, the unemployment rate remained the same, sitting at 5.6 percent. The national unemployment rate is at the lowest it has been in more than 40 years.