Paul Martin’s Business Update – October 17th, 2014

Even with a growth rate of a modest one-percent expected this year, the economists at BMO Bank of Montreal are calling Saskatchewan a stable and solid market.

The latest update on the provinces from the bank portrayed this province in a positive light, despite the downturn in agriculture which is coming off a record crop last year. There was little chance of repeating that so we’re going to see a bit of a slowdown this year. The bank expects the more normal will grain crop will cut 1.5 points off of last year’s performance.

Nonetheless, the bank says the province is poised to become the national capital of job creation. Employment, the bank said, popped 3.3 per cent in the past year and the unemployment rate fell to 3.5 percent and employment – the percentage of the population with a job – hit a new record.

Strong job creation is attracting new residents, lifting housing demand and retail activity so next year should see us jump from growth of one per cent this year to 2.7 per cent, second best in the country.

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