Spotlight on Ottawa

Jobs

Ottawa-Gatineau's unemployment rate dropped by 0.5 percentage points in August as local employment shot up by an astonishing 9,200 jobs, the largest gain seen in more than three years.  Statistics Canada analyst Vincent Ferrao said one would have to go back to December 2005 in order to find a larger increase; during that month, roughly 9,700 jobs were added.  The local jobless rate fell to 5.4 per cent, mirroring surprisingly strong activity nationally that bowled over analysts' estimates.

The gains were widespread, with the largest gains seen in health care and social assistance and the finance, real estate, insurance and leasing sector.  And public administration traditionally one of the major drivers of local employment also posted a healthy gain of about 2,700 jobs, with employment reaching 165,500 jobs in August.  Notably, the retail sector, which has been suffering job losses over the past several months, saw an small increase of about 300 jobs, to employ 61,900 people.  Mr Ferrao said that although the gain is statistically insignificant, it's an improvement over the average loss of 1,000 jobs seen over the past five years for the July-August period. 

Ottawa-Gatineau compared favourably with the rest of the country, with the Ontario portion of the census metropolitan area tying for the second-lowest unemployment rate in Eatern Canada with Saint John, NB, at 5.2 per cent.  Quebec City had the lowest jobless rate in the eastern part of the country, while the loswest overall rates were seen in Regina, at 4.1 per cent, and Saskatoon, at 4.5 per cent.

Construction

Construction intentions increased across the board in July, leading to an 8.1 per cent overall rise in permit values as every category except the institutional segment posted gains, according to new data released by Statistics Canada.

Ottawa's total value for approved building permits grew from the previous month to $161.78 million, with a strong non-residential segment propelling the increase.

The local gain was in stark contrast with the 11.4 per cent decrease seen nationwide, to $4.61 billion, with a shutdown in Toronto's municipal offices for most of the month due to the major civic workers' strike contributing to the decline in approved permits.  Total residential values across the country fell 4.1 per cent to $2.59 billion, while non-residential permits dropped to 19.3 per cent to $2.02 billion, the report showed.

In comparison, Ottawa's non-residential values rose 9.2 per cent between June and July, to a seasonally adjusted $73.86 million, largely because of a strong 66.6 per cent increase in commercial construction intentions.  As well, the smaller industrial segment posted a 117 per cent jump to $6.08 million, helping to balance out a 32 per cent drop in the heavily weighted institutional sector, which reported permit values of $27.79 million in July.

Home Sales

Ottawa realtors sold 1,216 homes in August, with sales cooling down after two months of blistering activity, according to new data from the Ottawa Real Estate Board.  Sales of existing homes rose 3% year-over-year, a significantly smaller increase than the double-digit gains seen in June and July, partly due to a 4.8% decline in condominium sales, to 259 units.  Ans while there was still a healthy year-over-year increase of 5.3% for the freehold segment, which posted sales of 957 units in August, sales growth was slower than the 12.6% rate seen in the previous month.

Meanwhile, the average price tag for freehold homes continued to climb in August, with residential properties selling for an average of $339,406, up 13% from a year earlier.  That helped push up the overall average sale price by 12.3% to $315,074, the report showed.  As well, condominium prices also rose, with the average price tag of $225,167 up 5.1% from the previous year.

Helping You Better Understand Life and Health Insurance

The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA) has posted a new version of its popular brochure on disability insurance on its website.  This is the sixth in a series of brochures focused on helping consumers understand life and health insurance products and services.  "The life and health insurance industry is committed to promoting financial literacy in Canada," said Frank Swedlove, CLHIA's president.  "These plain language brochures will help Canadian consumers navigate their way through the ever-growing range of products and services offered by life and health insurance companies," he added.

The CLHIA's series of consumer brochures cover: life insurance; supplementary health insurance; disability insurance; travel health insurance; segregated fund contracts; and the coordination of benefits.  The brochures are available on the CLHIA website.  A limited number of printed brochures are also available through the CLHIA and consumers may call 416-777-2221 or submit a web enquiry to request copies.  CLHIA says it plan to produce brochures on other industry products and services in the months ahead.  Of course, our sister company CAPCORP, are also experts in all of these areas.  Feel free to contact them.

Businesses Should Plan for Pandemics

Up to 87 per cent of Canadian companies still don't have a contingency plan to deal with a situation like a pandemic, according to a recent survery by the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters.  A Cowan Special Bulletin says public health officials are busy preparing for what could be a new wave of H1N1 flu cases as students return to school and the regular flu season begins in the fall.  The case for a business pandemic plan is strong in the midst of what has become the world's first pandemic in 40 years.

In a moderately severe pandemic, the Public Health Agency of Canada predicts that between 15% and 35% of Canadians could become ill, 34,000 to 138,000 individuals may need to be hospitalized, and between 11,000 and 58,000 deaths could occur.  The agency says businesses should plan for one-third to a half of their workers being absent for about two weeks at the height of a severe pandemic, which could last about eight weeks.