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.
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Employment Insurance beneficiaries spiked when CERB ended
When the CERB was phased out, the number of EI beneficiaries spiked in October, with 76 per cent of unemployed Albertans collecting EI that month
Manufacturing gains a few yards in November but no first down
Total sales over the first 11 months of the year were still down by 15.9 per cent or $11.2 billion
Bank of Canada leaves interest rate as is
The policy interest rate has been at the effectice lower bound of 0.25 per cent since March 2020
Chinese economy achieves V-shaped recovery
China was the only major global economy to post positive GDP growth last year
Brakes tapped on new vehicle sales in November
As of November, year-to-date sales of new cars and trucks were down by $1.6 billion in 2020 in Alberta
Like fine wine
The growing number of seniors in Canada’s big cities
Self-employment in Alberta during COVID
Self-employment sometimes goes down during a recession (as it did in 2015 and 2016) and sometimes goes up (as it did in 2009, in 1982 and 1983, and last year)
Investment in building construction edges down again in November
Investment fell by just 0.3 per cent ($6.0 million) compared to October, but was down by 2.7 per cent ($51.3 million) on a year-over-year basis
A tough year for job seekers
A look back at Alberta’s labour market in 2020 (part 2 of 2)
Not a pretty sight:
A look back at Alberta’s labour market in 2020 (part 1 of 2)
Part-time jobs hit hard in December
Over 30,000 full-time positions (1.7 per cent) were added in December while part-time employment fell by 42,200 (-9.5 per cent)
Use of ICT by businesses widespread but perhaps less than you think
Only a quarter of Canadian businesses had at least some online sales in 2019