RBC Economics says Canadian labour markets showed employment rising solidly and the unemployment rate unexpectedly slipping lower. Statistics Canada released January job numbers Friday, and the national unemployment rate was 6.6 per cent last month down from 6.7 per cent in December and 6.9 per cent in November.

RBC says Canadian employment added 76 thousand jobs in January, building on the 91-thouand jobs that were added in December. The drop in unemployment was despite another large jump in the labour force (61k) due to another large population increase (56k) and an increase in the labour force participation rate.

Saskatchewan’s unemployment rate dropped to 5.4 per cent from 6.0 the month prior tying Quebec for lowest unemployment rate in the country. In Saskatoon the unemployment rate dropped to 4.8 per cent from 5.0 in December and in Regina it went up to 7.0 per cent in January as compared to 6.8 per cent the month before.