For the third consecutive month, Saskatchewan has recorded a significant decline year-over-year in the number of people receiving Employment Insurance (EI) benefits.

According to the latest report from Statistics Canada, June 2010 saw 13,150 EI beneficiaries receiving regular benefits in Saskatchewan, a decrease of 1,250 or 8.7 per cent from the same month last year.

"These numbers are another in a series of positive signs for Saskatchewan workers," Advanced Education, Employment and Immigration Minister Rob Norris said. "Our unemployment rate is the lowest in Canada, we've seen employment records for each of the past six months and on average, our workers are earning more than ever."

On a per capita basis, Saskatchewan has the second fewest number of people receiving EI benefits in Canada at 2 per cent. Alberta has the lowest at 1.9 per cent.

"While we have seen real improvement over last year, we know that there is still work to do," Norris said. "Our rapid response teams continue to provide vital services to workers and employers facing layoffs, and our saskjobs.ca website is seeing hundreds of new opportunities every day."

"Right now, there are more than 6,500 jobs available across the province on www.saskjobs.ca," Norris said.