April in Review 
In May 2018, Prince George's unemployment rate was 4.6%, a decrease of 1.3% when compared to the same month in 2017 when it was 5.9%. The unemployment rate of 4.6% for Prince George was lower than both the provincial rate of 4.8% and the national rate of 5.8%.
 
Prince George's employment rate in May 2018 was 71.1%, an increase from the same month in May 2017 when it was 66.3%, a 4.8% positive change. The employment rate of 71.1% for Prince George was substantially higher than Canada's national rate of 61.5% and British Columbia's rate of 61.4%. 
 
Total employment in the Cariboo Economic Development region was 84,100 during May 2018. This represents an increase of 700 jobs when compared to the previous month. The Cariboo region has added 4,800 jobs since January 2018 when total employment was 79,300. The Construction industry had the greatest increase in May with an additional 1,100 jobs being added. Primary and Secondary in the Education industry added 500 jobs. Job numbers decreased by 700 in Retail Trade; another notable reduction was 400 jobs in the Food Services and Drinking Places category.
Real Estate
The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported the average absorbed single-detached unit price for new housing construction for May 2018 was $490,450 with 17 new units sold in Prince George. This is a 6.0 % decrease in unit price for new housing construction when compared to May 2017 when the average absorbed single detached unit price for new housing construction was $521,577 and 4 new houses were sold.The number of new houses sold in Prince George increased 325% when comparing May 2018 to the same month in 2017. 
 
The BC Northern Real Estate Board (BCNREB) reported home sales in Northern BC totaled 475 units in May 2018, a decrease of 6.3% from May 2017. The average price of homes sold in Northern BC was $299,692 in May 2018, an increase of 5.6% from May 2017. This average residential price is useful for establishing trends and comparisons over time but does not indicate the actual price of a home due to the wide selection of housing over a vast geographic area; BCNREB serves an area over 600,000 square kilometres.  The dollar value of home sales for May 2018 totaled $142.4 million, a slight decrease of 1.1% from the same month in 2017. Active residential listings on the Board MLS System numbered 2,208 units at the end of May, a decline of 15% when compared to May 2017.
Housing Construction
According to CMHC, there were 42 (31 SFD, 11 multiples) total housing starts in Prince George during May 2018 compared to 30 (22 SFD, 8 multiples) in May 2017. This is an increase of 40% over the same month last year. There were 18 (16 SFD, 2 multiples) completions in May 2018 while May 2017 had 20 (10 SFD, 10 multiples) completions. This is a decrease of 10% over the same month last year. 

Year-to-date total housing starts in Prince George were 71 for 2018 while in 2017 the total housing starts were 69. Year-to-date total housing completions in Prince George reveal another aspect of economic activity; in 2017 Prince George recorded 31 total housing completions during this time period while 2018 year-to-date total housing completions totaled 187. 

Across BC, housing starts decreased by 10.0% from 3,917 (1,103 SFDs, 2,814 multiples) in May 2017 to 3,526 (995 SFDs, 2,531 multiples) in May 2018. The total number of completions in BC increased by 32.7% from 2,417 (673 SFDs, 1,744 multiples) in May 2017 to 3,207 (910 SFDs, 2,297 multiples) in May 2018. 
Building Permits 
The City of Prince George issued 44 building permits valued at $15,376,917 in May 2018, including $10,231,917 in single family residential permits, $1,645,000 in commercial permits. Industrial permits came in at $3,500,000 while no institutional permits were issued.  This is a 102% increase in dollar value of total permits over May 2017 when 44 permits were issued at a value of $7,609,668.

Year-to-date statistics are equally revealing. In 2018 a total value of $55,164,188 in building permits were issued compared to 2017 when year-to-date building permits came in at $34,335,543. This represents an increase of $20,828,645 or 60.7% over the same period last year. Recognizing construction activity varies each month due to a number of factors, this is still a very positive economic indicator in the first five months of 2018. 

View the complete Monthly Building Permit Report   for detailed descriptions of building permits issued. 
Business Licenses 
The City of Prince George issued 53 new business licenses and 33 business license renewals in April 2018.

Monthly Business License Reports are available on the  City of Prince George website.
Passengers 
43,209 passengers moved through the Prince George International Airport (YXS) in May 2018. This was an increase of 5.1% or 2,093 more passengers over May 2017 when passenger volume was 41,116. Year-to-date, air passenger traffic at YXS for 2018 is up 6.5% over volumes recorded in 2017. 
More Statistics...
The City of Prince George Economic Development Division offers a  dashboard that provides relevant up-to-date  economic data including the following: demographics, labour, tax, quality of life, housing transportation, education, companies, and utilities. Powered by Townfolio, this statistical tool is designed to help businesses and the community gain access to up-to-date statistics about the Prince George economy. 


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