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 Swift Current and Moose Jaw, experienced their unemployment rise to 4.9 per cent, a 0.7 per cent 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 per cent and now sits at 5.8 per cent which matches Canada's lowest level of unemployment since Stats Canada began measuring the indicator in 1976.

Saskatchewan's unemployment fell 0.4 per cent and now sit at 5.7 per cent, 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.