Every month, John Rose, the Chief Economist of financial strategies and budget in Edmonton, releases the economic outlook of the City of Edmonton.
The report addresses the short and long term prospects of Edmonton’s economy. It’s an excellent resource for staying up to date with the economic development of Edmonton. You can subscribe to their newsletter HERE.
The three topics they covered in their most recent edition included employment, housing starts, and inflation.
Here’s the short form of what they had to say:
Despite the year to date growth rate sitting at 2.4%, there was a drop in employment in June and 9,500 jobs were cut, with a decrease in manufacturing, construction and energy outpacing the increase in financial services, business, and hospitality. The losses were almost entirely in part-time work, with full-time work actually seeing a net increase. Weekly earnings continued to move up, with the annual growth rate now sitting at 2.1%.
Canada’s employment rate grew .6% and Alberta dropped 2.2%. Compared to these numbers, Edmonton is doing quite well for the year.
The second economic quarter in Edmonton was the first to show an actual increase in housing starts, after four consecutive housing start decreases.
There were a total of 1954 units started in quarter two, an increase from 1463 starts in quarter one. Compared to last year’s number of 2980, however, this was a 34% decrease in housing starts.
The inflation rate in Edmonton for the second quarter was unchanged, sitting at 1.6%. This is .4% more than Calgary’s current rate of inflation.
The rate of inflation in Alberta was down from 1.5% in May to 1.3% in June. The seasonal increase in gas prices was offset by a decrease in accommodation, food, and clothing prices.
Click here for the full report.
All in all, Edmonton seems to be a bastion of strength in the Alberta economy!