The Owl: Focused on Alberta’s Economy
Retail sales, unemployment rate, population growth, inflation, international trade—these are just a few of the economic trends the team makes sense of in The Owl.
Economics News
Subscribe and get a quick daily snapshot of what’s happening in Alberta’s economy
Happy Cinco de Mayo!
At $841 million, Alberta’s exports to Mexico were down in 2020 compared to 2019 by 23 per cent.
Official GDP numbers are in
Alberta’s economy shrank 8.2 per cent in 2020
A profile of natural resource jobs in Alberta
Alberta is home to the largest number of natural resource jobs in the country
Payroll jobs edged higher in February
The number of employee positions was, however, down by 8.5 per cent (169,917) compared to 12 months earlier
To spend or not to spend?
Household savings during and after the pandemic
Retail sales in Alberta rose in February
Clothing stores, however, continued to struggle with year-over-year sales down by 26.8 per cent
Looser restrictions boosted restaurant and bar sales in February
Bars saw their (unadjusted) sales increase by 238 per cent in February but sales were still down by 62 per cent compared to February 2020
Eight in ten Canadians volunteered in 2018
The five billion hours spent volunteering in 2018 are equal to 2,622,296 full-time year-round jobs
It takes a village: Adapting during the pandemic
Successfully adapting to unwanted change is inextricably linked to our role as community members and community builders
New vehicle sales getting back to normal in Alberta
As of February 2021 new vehicle sales in Alberta were roughly back to where they were 12 months earlier just before the pandemic was declared
Economic outlook has improved: Bank of Canada
The Bank has revised the timeline for when a rate increase might occur from 2023 to “some time in the second half of 2022”
Five things to know about the federal budget
The federal deficit for the 2020/21 fiscal year is projected to come in at $354.2 billion followed by deficits of $154.7 billion this fiscal and $59.7 billion in 2022/23
Number of businesses in Alberta during the pandemic
Encouragingly, after large drops in the spring, monthly gains were posted in June through December, albeit not enough to make up for the ground lost earlier in the year
Manufacturing increases again in February
Shipments from Alberta’s factory floors rose for the sixth month in a row in February. Compared to January, seasonally adjusted manufacturing sales rose by 1.9 per cent to reach $6.1 billion
Oil prices holding up nicely so far
WTI has averaged almost US$62 per barrel since the start of March while the Western Canadian Select benchmark has averaged just under US$52 over the same period
Pandemic shines a light on precarious employment
Concern has been raised about a growing segment of western society referred to as the “precariat”
Job recovery remains uneven
The hospitality sector still has the biggest pandemic-related employment hole to fill
Alberta's unemployment rate improved in March
The provincial unemployment rate went from 9.9 per cent in February to 9.1 per cent in March