ATB forecasts modest economic growth, but job prospects lag in 2017
Posted Mar 1, 2017 2:24 pm.
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Alberta’s economy will gain some ground this year, but ATB Financial’s Alberta Economic Outlook says unemployment will remain high around eight or nine per cent, as companies hold back on spending.
“They’re going to be reluctant, I think, to hire back a lot of other people,” says Chief Economist Todd Hirsch. “Simply because, they’ve just reduced their payrolls by elliminating them. Maybe in the second half of the year, if they repair their balance sheets a bit, there’s a lot of work that comes their way, they might start hiring back a little bit more.”
ATB believes steady oil prices at over US $50 a barrel, two federally approved pipeline projects and a possible revival of Keystone XL have created more optimism in the province, which is expected to see modest GDP growth of 2.2 per cent.
“A lot of Albertans are breathing a sigh of relief. Now it doesn’t mean we go back to the boom days of 2014, it is going to be a rebuilding year,” said Hirsch.
He said the best the oil sector can do is stabilize, and other industries will be A bigger growth engine.
“Tourism, agriculture and especially agri-foods [with] a lot of food processing; the new $350 million food processing facility of Cavendish Farms by Lethbridge,” said Hirsch.
ATB believes it may be another record setting year for tourism because of a weak Canadian dollar, better flight connections from Asia and Canada 150 celebrations. Hirsch says construction spending will slow down, especially for commercial space, driven by high vacancy rates in Calgary.
