The latest data on employment by metro area shows good news for Moncton. Comparing December 2010 to December 2011, total employment in the Moncton CMA is up nearly 5 percent – among the top quartile results in Canada – faster…
Continue ReadingThis is our hill and these are our beans: reflections on culture
“It’s a topsy-turvy world, and maybe the problems of two people don’t amount to a hill of beans. But this is our hill. And these are our beans!” – Frank Drebin -The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!…
Continue ReadingA wacky year for the labour market
It was a bit of a wacky labour market picture for NB over the year. The year end data is out (a good report here) and it’s not what I would have predicted. There was virtually no growth in total…
Continue ReadingEmployment situation in NB is grim – particularly among the young
A long time commentator on this blog, Richard, thinks a few good charts are needed to tell the economic story of NB. To oblige, have a look at the following two charts. The first shows total employment growth in New…
Continue ReadingEmployment growth needed to solve shortages: the paradox
Got an email from someone asking why I argue we need to grow the economy to address our growing labour shortages. They speculate that growing the economy would actually exacerbate labour shortages in the province. This is a good question. There…
Continue ReadingMaybe too much eggnog for Jupia this year?
Rereading my column this morning I realize that maybe I have been drinking too much of the Christmas elixir. Of course, I take it sans booze but it still seems to be having some effect. Here is the offending line from…
Continue ReadingWhat @Jupia Wants: Thumbnail Sketch
After reading a few of my G&M Economy Lab blog posts, someone from out west sent me an email asking me “what do you want?”. I guess for new readers of this blog or my columns it might be helpful…
Continue ReadingThe lazy Monctonian looking for handouts
My column in the Globe & Mail Economy Lab today is a straight forward review of average weekly wage data from Statistics Canada’s SEPH monthly survey. There is not much narrative about implications or any broad judgement about what the data means…
Continue ReadingTax the boozers and drivers – just like 1952
I have been reading a very interesting article in the Canadian Historical Review on the McNair government’s economic development focus for New Brunswick right after World War II. It is a fascinating read on many levels (thanks to Kurt Peacock…
Continue ReadingThe changing average weekly wage landscape in Canada (2002-2011)
In order to assess the relative change in wage rates across Canada I set the national average wage rate (for all industries and specific industries below) equal to 100 and then assessed where the province’s stood relative to the index.…
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