Alberta’s economic optimism the highest in the nation
Posted Apr 12, 2011 11:58 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Alberta residents are among the most optimistic in Canada about the outlook for the national economy.
Sixty nine per cent rate it as good while 50 per cent believe it will continue to improve over the coming year.
Those are numbers well above the national average.
RBC Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Craig Wright tells 660News a recent pick-up in employment with strong global growth and firm commodity prices might suggest a reason for that bolstered optimism.
The study also shows 40 per cent of Albertans are confident in their debt management skills while levels of anxiety over jobs continue to be well below the national average.
“Last year Alberta was one of two provinces that saw a decline in employment so you were late in this employment recovery story but that all changed in January as you had the best job numbers in a month since May of 06,” Wright says.
The one risk we have they note is that our economy is closely linked to the price of oil making the province prone to ‘boom and bust’ cycles.
“There’s a lot of risks out there and an extreme risk between deflation double dip and inflation so you can get volatility going forward,” he says.
With Alberta being seen as a leader on the Canadian spectrum this will also position Calgary to be a leader across major metropolitian cities as well.
Although uncertainty about the future is relatively high, Wright says we do have a fairly steady growth outlook and thinks the report has some legs.
