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Our economics team examines the latest statistics on employment, trade, consumer spending, the energy industry and other economic drivers to provide insight into what is happening in Alberta and where our economy is heading.
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Recent Owls
Building permits went up a few floors in June
Permit value over the first half of the year was the second highest since 2016
Expanding natural gas prices
Prices are stronger than they have been in years
Business confidence riding high in Alberta
The increase in confidence coincided with rising vaccination rates and announcements regarding the imminent re-opening of the Alberta economy
Price of beer down, price of internet access up
Today's Owl looks at how the prices of specific items have changed over the last two years
Inflation fails to inflate
We didn’t see the dramatic spike in the inflation rate that some commentators were fearing, but it is still early days in terms of the economic recovery, so this could change
Number of businesses in Alberta up a smidge in April
It wasn’t a lot, but at least the arrow was pointing in the right direction
Retail sales slipped in May
After increasing slightly in April, seasonally adjusted retail sales in Alberta contracted by 1.6% in May
Global population to reach 9.7 billion by 2050
A growing and more prosperous global community creates tremendous opportunities for a trading economy like Alberta
More homes being built in Alberta
The annualized number of monthly starts averaged 31,000 over the January to June period compared to just 21,800 in 2020 and 24,200 in 2019
Alberta has the most large corporations per resident
Identifying where Canada’s largest corporations are headquartered is a pretty blunt economic measure, but it does give us a rough sense of the corporate heft of different places
Wholesale trade in Alberta slowed after record April
Sales were, however, much improved compared to the early months of the pandemic
Third wave dampened vehicle sales in May
Sales should rebound once again now that cases are down and public health restrictions in the province have been loosened
Global recovery strengthening slightly
It’s important to note that the forecast could be thrown off course if a fourth wave of the virus driven by variants develops
Manufacturing sales keep rising in Alberta
At $7.2 billion, monthly shipments from the Alberta’s factories were $115 million (1.6%) higher in May
International immigration to Alberta cut in half by COVID
Alberta gained 24,911 people on a net basis from international movements in 2020 versus 48,805 in 2019
Are we there yet? Job recovery in Alberta
There are still travel restrictions, supply chain disruptions, labour shortages and other pandemic-related headwinds working against job growth
Alberta’s unemployment rate ticked up in June
Compared to the pre-pandemic benchmark of February 2020, employment in the province was down by 2.1% or 47,700 jobs
New experimental business conditions index
Statistics Canada has developed an experimental measure of business conditions in seven major Canadian cities