The ratio of unemployed to job openings on P.E.I. improved dramatically in the first quarter of 2012, moving from being the worst in the country to the best in the region.

In the first quarter of 2011, there were 17.8 people looking for work on P.E.I. for every job opening. In the first quarter of 2012, that ratio fell to 8.1. Jason Gilmore, a senior analyst with Statistics Canada, said what changed was the number of jobs on offer.

"The level of unemployment in March 2011 and March 2012 was not any different," said Gilmore, noting there were just over 10,000 Islanders unemployed in both years.

"What did change was there was an increase in the number of job vacancies in the province, from 600 in March 2011 to 1,300 in March 2012."

P.E.I. was still well above the national average of 5.8, an average that was pulled down by very low rates in Alberta (1.8) and Saskatchewan (2.8).

"Both annually and March to March, we see that the highest unemployment to job vacancies ratios are in the eastern provinces, and lowest in the western, particularly the prairie provinces," said Gilmore.

The Statistics Canada information doesn't give the detail of what kind of Island businesses or industries were hiring.

The unemployed to job vacancies ratio is still a relatively new report for Statistics Canada, and Gilmore said it's going to take several more years of data collection before it's known what a typical job vacancy ratio is for March.

In the first quarters of both 2011 and 2012 there were about 10,000 Islanders looking for work, but there were more than twice as many job openings in the first quarter of 2012. (CBC)