The headline in the Regina Leader Post screamed "Job numbers jump 6,700." In anyone's world, 6,700 more jobs is positive news. But if you drill down into the data, the news isn't so rosy.

More than half of the new jobs created over the past year are paid for by taxpayers.

The latest job numbers come from Sask Trends Monitor, Saskatchewan's preeminent statistics publication and clearly show a disturbing trend of rapid government expansion. Overall employment grew by 1.4 per cent in the first seven months of the reporting year - well below the 2.1 per cent growth in Alberta and 1.7 per cent growth in Manitoba, but above the national average of 1.1 per cent.

Dig a little deeper into the numbers and you find private sector employment grew by 1.7 per cent, while government employment grew nearly twice as fast. In fact, there are 5,000 more government employees today then there were back in 2002 - a staggering statistic given Saskatchewan's stagnant population growth.

What's worse is that almost all of the new job growth is taken by people 55 years or older, which means we're not attracting or keeping any young people in Saskatchewan.

Of course, this doesn't stop the government from trumpeting their overwhelming success in economic development. Industry Minister Eric Cline said the job increases are a "testament to the diversification and strength of Saskatchewan's economy."

The economy is diverse if by "diverse" you mean the difference between various government departments. Cline also warns that this growth is a "double-edged sword" in that they are now having trouble filling some positions.

For taxpayers, an unfilled government position isn't a liability, it's a blessing.

Since 1995, our provincial government has grown its payroll by 12,190 bodies and hiked the average wage by 22 per cent. The number of working people sticking around in Saskatchewan to pay these wages is in slow but steady decline.

Sound like trouble

This year, the Saskatchewan government is forecasting tax revenues to be $255 million higher than forecast in the provincial budget. In fact, government revenues are higher now than they have been our province's history. In historical terms, the government of Saskatchewan is rolling in dough.

That's why it's surprising to see in their First Quarter Update that they are still planning to borrow $60 million to balance the budget.

We're three months into the fiscal year and the province has already spent more than half of the expected surplus.

The government press release blares "sound financial path continues in first quarter." We suppose "sound financial paths" exist only in the eye of the beholder. What is "financially sound" about a government that confiscates more tax dollars than it needs from taxpayers and turns around and spends every single dime and then some

While the government tells us the economy and the province's finances are heading in the right direction, the reality is quite different. Government spending is at an all-time high with no end in sight for increases and Saskatchewan's average annual GDP growth for past decade ranks dead last among the provinces.

It's past time for the province to reign in spending and get serious about lowering taxes and paying down debt. The endless growth of the civil service threatens to be our undoing.