The monthly labour force survey, released by Statistics Canada Friday morning, shocked many, as the national economy shed 51,600 jobs in the month, moving the unemployment rate for the country up to 6.0 percent.

Here in southeast Saskatchewan, the unemployment rate went up as well, as the region lost 100 jobs in the month of August. The unemployment rate increased to 4.4 percent, up from 4 percent in July. The number of people working in the region is still a jump from back in April when the unemployment rate was 5.5 percent, and there were 2300 fewer people working in the region.

Provincially, the population growth of the province making for a double-edged sword in terms of the job numbers. Saskatchewan actually saw an increase in jobs, with 1400 more people working. Despite the increase in jobs, the unemployment rate went up to 6.7 percent, thanks to the population steadily increasing, but the number of people working not keeping pace with the number of people coming into the province.

With the numbers being released by Statistics Canada this morning, the markets took a bit of a hit. The Canadian dollar dropped sharply when the survey numbers came out, after steady gains in the overseas markets. Many economists were anticipating an increase of five thousand jobs in August.

The drop nationally was fuelled primarily by the loss of 92,000 part-time jobs.