The following electronic version is for
informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.
BUDGET 97: REPORTS
Ministry of Finance and Corporate Relations
Province of British Columbia

TABLE H1
GENERAL ECONOMIC INDICATORS
  Unit or
Base Period
 
1993
 
1994
 
1995
 
1996
Population and Labour Force:
  Population (July 1) thousands 3,575 3,671 3,763 3,855
  Net In-migration number 76,359 75,548 60,895 60,600 e
    Interprovincial number 37,455 33,354 24,023 18,800 e
    International number 38,904 42,104 36,872 41,800 e
  Labour force thousands 1,845 1,913 1,935 1,982
  Labour force participation rate * per cent 66.3 66.7 65.7 65.5
    Male per cent 74.4 74.5 73.0 72.6
    Female per cent 58.5 59.1 58.5 58.6
  Employment thousands 1,666 1,733 1,762 1,806
    Male thousands 920 946 963 986
    Female thousands 745 787 799 820
    Full-time thousands 1,341 1,374 1,413 1,444
    Part-time thousands 325 359 349 362
  Unemployment rate per cent 9.7 9.4 9.0 8.9
    Male per cent 9.8 10.2 9.2 9.0
    Female per cent 9.6 8.5 8.6 8.7
Main Economic Indicators:
  Provincial gross domestic product $ millions 91,127 98,910 103,433 104,420 e
  Capital investment (new) $ millions 18,006 20,403 19,227 18,751
  Retail sales $ millions 26,348 29,032 30,855 31,280
  New motor vehicle sales units 147,786 155,966 148,069 143,739
  Housing starts dwelling units 42,807 39,408 27,057 27,641
  Building permits $ millions 6,389 6,318 5,415 6,053
  Exports $ millions 19,016 22,835 26,911 25,197
Incomes:
  Personal income $ millions 81,910 85,960 90,350 93,173 e
  Labour income $ millions 50,996 53,732 56,620 58,696
  Average weekly earnings $ 558.18 577.15 594.01 606.82
Prices:
  Consumer price index,
    B.C. (urban)
1986=100 131.6 134.2 137.3 138.5
  Consumer price index,
    Vancouver
1986=100 132.0 134.7 138.0 139.1
  Consumer price index,
    Victoria
1986=100 130.2 132.8 136.1 137.4
  Industrial product price index,
    Canada
1986=100 112.7 119.1 128.8 129.4
  B.C. export commodity price
    index ($ Cdn.)
1986=100 118.9 135.9 154.1 144.4
Financial Indicators:
  Business incorporations number 22,955 25,774 23,846 23,237
  Business bankruptcies number 830 827 973 948
  Shares traded (Vancouver
    Stock Exchange)
$ millions 6,781 5,783 6,422 11,986
  Personal savings deposits
    at chartered banks
$ millions 36,591 38,997 41,497 43,100 e
  Personal loans outstanding
    at chartered banks
$ millions 9,446 10,408 11,300 12,600 e
Sector Indicators:
  Manufacturing shipments $ millions 27,143 31,048 34,169 32,906
  Timber scaled thousand
cubic metres
79,239 75,649 76,472 75,213
  Lumber production thousand
cubic metres
33,935 33,671 32,611 32,671
  Pulp and paper production thousand
tonnes
7,107 7,710 7,608 7,295
  Gross value of mineral
    production
$ millions 2,347 2,677 3,463 3,050 e
  Petroleum and natural gas
    production
$ millions 1,048 1,227 951 1,260 e
  Electric power generation
    (net)
million kilowatt
hours
58,774 61,015 58,006 70,724
  Farm cash receipts $ millions 1,433 1,516 1,527 1,588
  Foreign visitors thousands 5,477 5,999 6,577 6,907
Regional Data:
  Housing Starts
    Vancouver 21,307 20,473 14,992 15,453
    Victoria 2,633 2,303 1,299 1,142
    Chilliwack 1,468 1,187 588 396
    Kamloops 1,067 1,029 663 555
    Kelowna 1,963 1,496 1,205 1,406
    Abbotsford 2,045 1,600 886 865
    Nanaimo 1,520 996 642 887
    Prince George 426 370 292 441
    Campbell River 416 548 318 419
    Courtenay 1,471 1,309 506 517
    Duncan 625 495 242 383
    Penticton 885 552 277 300
    Vernon 742 656 432 400

 
  Average Employment Average Unemployment Rate (%)
  Nov. `95 to
Jan. `96
Nov. `96 to
Jan. `97
Nov. `95 to
Jan. `96
Nov. `96 to
Jan. `97
Labour Markets
  Greater Vancouver 907,000 930,000 8.7 8.2
  Greater Victoria 141,000 149,000 10.2 7.7
  Vancouver Island/Coast 296,000 317,000 11.2 9.8
  Mainland/Southwest 1,027,000 1,058,000 8.8 8.2
  Thompson-Okanagan 191,000 198,000 11.5 11.0
  Kootenay 64,000 63,000 9.5 12.3
  Cariboo 79,000 81,000 7.0 7.4
  North Coast and Nechako 48,000 52,000 8.4 8.4
  Northeast 33,000 34,000 7.3 7.5

* Per cent of the working-age population in the labour force.
e: Estimate

Sources: Statistics Canada, Bank of Canada, Government of British Columbia, industry associations.


Budget 97 Reports


BC Budget 97


BC Ministry of Finance and Corporate Relations

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