Once again, economic statistics confound the message that rural Canada and US is drying up and blowing away.
The good news from this report is that the job gains are starting to spread beyond the oil and gas country to other rural areas.
The bottom line message is that rural Canada and rural areas of the USA are leading our economies out of recession by creating real jobs that employ people on more than make work projects. When it comes to my local area, the question is what recession? Our unemployment rate never increased and our labour force participation rate did not go down compared to 2 and 3 years ago.
If one is unemployed and willing to work, look at moving to SW Manitoba or SE Sask! Unlike other boom areas, we still have affordable housing, lots of room in our schools, and a generally good quality of life. We have employers wanting to hire and not finding willing workers.