Friday, July 4, 2003

EDMONTON – The third quarterly edition of AUPE’s Economic Outlook has been released, providing an overview of economic and labour activity in Alberta over the past few months.

The paper by AUPE Research Officer Aaron Mireau shows that working people in Alberta continue to experience the highest inflation rates in Canada at 4.8 per cent.

“Albertans are paying almost two per cent more than the average Canadian for goods and services,” Mireau writes.

At the same time, the AUPE economic researcher noted, natural gas prices fell 31.4 per cent in May compared with April – but they were still 125.6 per cent higher than at the same time last year.

Soaring insurance premiums – up more than 40 per cent over May last year – also continued to put significant upward pressure on the Canadian Consumer Price Index, Mireau noted. Housing prices in Alberta also showed continued increases – with homes in Edmonton climbing in value at a faster rate than in Calgary.

Despite the dramatic effects on the Canadian and Alberta economies of SARS and the isolated case of Mad Cow Disease – estimated to be costing Alberta $6.3 million per day – economic indicators continue to show Alberta in a strong position, Mireau says.

“Not only does Alberta have the highest (Gross Domestic Product) per capita in Canada, it has higher GDP per capita than even Kuwait or Saudi Arabia,” he writes.

As a result – as AUPE and the provincial government prepare to negotiate a wage-reopener for direct Alberta government employees – “it is obvious that the government’s coffers are flush with cash.”

Population growth is also dramatic, adding to the need for increased public services. Mireau notes that in the census year ending June 2002, almost 27,000 people had moved to Alberta.

More economic indicators, labour force statistics and details of union wage settlements are available in the PDF version of Economic Outlook, which can be accessed by clicking here.