Southwestern Saskatchewan's job market hit a bit of a rough patch last month with the loss of about 400 jobs.

According to a report by Statistics Canada the southwest region, which encompasses Moose Jaw and Swift Current, experienced their unemployment rise to 4.9%, a 0.7% jump from February 2018 in a year-over-year comparison.

The increase of only around 200 jobs in a year's time has the southwest ranking 21 out of 66 regions in Canada, a drop of 14 spots in a year.

While the southwest employment has been pretty stagnant, both Saskatchewan and Canada saw their employment rates improve since February last year.

Canada's unemployment rate dropped 0.1% and now sits at 5.8% which matches Canada's lowest level of unemployment since Stats Canada began measuring the indicator in 1976.

Saskatchewan's unemployment fell 0.4% and now sit at 5.7%, ranking third best amongst Canada's provinces.

The southwest's population is estimated at 80,900 - a decrease of 400 residents from last year. Of the 80,900 people, 52,800 are in the labour force with 50,200 of them working and 2,600 are unemployed.