BC Update - May 2011

"It's an amazing city. It's just got a great vibe to it. There's an energy there that I'm really enjoying a great deal." Michael Stipe, REM

Vancouver - World's Top-Rated City
• in 2010 Mercer’s Quality of Living Survey ranked Vancouver in the Top 4 world’s most livable cities
• The Economist ranked Vancouver # 1
• consistently in the Top 5 in the last several years

Retail Sales Rise 0.7% in February
• reach a seasonally-adjusted $4.84 billion.
• offset some of the declines in recent months

Employment Rises Slightly in March,
Unemployment Rate Falls
• estimated employment rose by 3,500 persons or 0.2% from February
• a second consecutive monthly gain
• jobless rate dipped to 8.1%, down 0.7 percentage point from a month earlier

Business Confidence Rises, Remains Steady in March
• 71.4 from a February reading of 70 points
• a reading of 50 or higher indicates a relatively high number of businesses expecting a stronger performance over the next year
• the reading marked the third consecutive month met or exceeded 70 and suggests a moderate growth in the provincial economy

Export Increases
• BC’s exports climbed 14.6% in 2010, recovering some ground lost in 2009
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Housing Sales Rise in March
• home sales in the combined Metro Vancouver and Abbotsford-Mission region rose for an eighth consecutive month, highest annualized sales since January 2010
• significant increases in March included the Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island, and B.C. Northern

Population Virtually Unchanged in the Last Quarter of 2010
• 4,554,085 as of Jan 1, 2011
• a minor increase of 2,232 during the quarter

Tourism Expects Improvements
• total visits remain elevated relative to the past two year period
• international tourist activity in B.C. is expected to see modest improvements in 2011

B.C. Film and Television Sector Stays Strong in 2010
• film and television production spending in British Columbia in 2010 totalled $1.01 billion
• a total of 246 productions were shot in B.C. in 2010

Sources:
Central 1 Credit Union 2011 Weekly Economic Briefings Archives volume 17 – 2011
BC STATS 2011
Quality of Living worldwide city rankings-Mercer Survey – 2010
The Economist-Livability ranking -2011
British Columbia Film Commision-Information Bulletin -2011