The Brief: Alberta's Economy Leads in Growth, But Headwinds Remain

Alberta has seen the strongest employment growth of all large provinces, but while resilient, Alberta has not escaped weak expectations globally or nationally. The labour market is softening, unemployment has ticked up, and Albertans are still feeling the impact of inflation and interest rates, with less than half feeling good about their finances. Despite this, Alberta businesses are among the most optimistic in the country, and they intend to continue to spend on capital this year. Further, Alberta is attracting a larger share of venture capital dollars, despite a national dip in overall investment. On this episode, we're back with BCA's economics team, Mike Holden and Alicia Planincic, to break down the Spring 2024 update of the Alberta Snapshot, an all-points summary of Alberta's economy. We look at the labour market and employment, check up on consumer spending and general affordability, and discuss business expectations and the state of the economy. We also look ahead at indicators to watch and ruminate on what we hope is to come. ------------ About The Business Council of Alberta The Business Council of Alberta was founded on a simple idea: to make life better for all Albertans. We believe that business has an important role in improving society, and that when business does well, we all do well. We work with the chief executives and leading entrepreneurs of Alberta's largest enterprises to understand the big, long-term challenges that Albertans are facing and work with industry, government, and civil society to solve these problems and build shared prosperity for every person who calls Alberta home. Check out more of our recent work: https://bit.ly/3JG9ifS Check out recent episodes of AlbertaBETTER: https://bit.ly/3bHlfFB Subscribe to our monthly newsletter: https://bit.ly/3BPxDhv Follow us on social media: Twitter: https://bit.ly/3P7pgB0 Facebook: https://bit.ly/3Qx6B2J LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3QaetHE YouTube: https://bit.ly/3QswqAV