July in Review 
In July 2018, Prince George's unemployment rate was 4.1%, a decrease of 1.7% when compared to the same month in 2017 when it was 5.8%. The unemployment rate of 4.1% for Prince George was lower than both the provincial rate of 5.0% and the national rate of 5.8%.
 
Prince George's employment rate in July 2018 was 70.2%, an increase from the same month in July 2017 when it was 66.3%, a 3.9% positive change. The employment rate of 70.2% for Prince George was substantially higher than Canada's national rate of 61.3% and British Columbia's rate of 61.6%. 
 
Total employment in the Cariboo Economic Development region was 84,000 during July 2018. This represents a decrease of 200 jobs when compared to the previous month. The Cariboo region has added 4,700 jobs since January 2018 when total employment was 79,300. The Construction industry had the greatest increase in July with an additional 600 jobs being added and Public Administration added 500 jobs. Job numbers decreased by 700 in Education; another notable reduction was 600 jobs in the Social Assistance category.
Real Estate
The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported the average absorbed single-detached unit price for new housing construction for July 2018 was $478,150 with 24 new units sold in Prince George. This is a 3.3 % decrease in unit price for new housing construction when compared to July 2017 when the average absorbed single detached unit price for new housing construction was $494,124 and 8 new houses were sold.The number of new houses sold in Prince George increased 200% when comparing July 2018 to the same month in 2017. 
 
The BC Northern Real Estate Board (BCNREB) reported home sales in Northern BC totaled 446 units in July 2018, a increase of 22.5% from July 2017. The average price of homes sold in Northern BC was $305,489 in July 2018, an increase of 8.6% from July 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 all home sales for July 2018 totaled $136.2 million; this was an increase of 33% from the same month in 2017. Active residential listings on the MLS System numbered 2,481 units at the end of July, a decline of 10.7% when compared to July 2017.
Housing Construction
According to CMHC, there were 19 (14 SFD, 5 multiples) total housing starts in Prince George during July 2018 compared to 18 (18 SFD, 0 multiple) in July 2017. This is an increase of 5.5% over the same month last year. There were 26 (24 SFD, 2 multiples) completions in July 2018 while July 2017 had 7 (4 SFD, 3 multiples) completions. This is an increase of 271% over the same month last year. 

Year-to-date total housing starts in Prince George were 115 for 2018 while in 2017 the total housing starts were 103 at this time. Year-to-date total housing completions in Prince George reveal another aspect of economic activity; in 2017 Prince George recorded 43 total housing completions during this time period while 2018 year-to-date total housing completions totaled 254. 

Across BC, housing starts decreased by 6.8% from 3,929 (1,100 SFD, 2,829 multiples) in July 2017 to 3,660 (981 SFD, 2,679 multiples) in July 2018. The total number of completions in BC increased by 50.1% from 2,099 (846 SFD, 1,253 multiples) in July 2017 to 3,165 (1,010 SFD, 2,155 multiples) in July 2018.
Building Permits 
The City of Prince George issued 56 building permits valued at $33,864,218 in July 2018, including $19,747,995 in single family and multiple residential permits, and $14,116,223 in commercial permits. There were no industrial permits or institutional permits issued.  This is a 38.0% increase in dollar value of total permits over July 2017 when 49 permits were issued at a value of $24,536,989.

Year-to-date building permit statistics are impressive. In 2018 a total value of $133,721,182 in building permits were issued compared to 2017 when year-to-date building permits came in at $73,682,774. This represents an increase of $60,038,408 or 81.5% over the same period last year. Recognizing construction activity varies each month due to a number of factors, this is a very positive economic indicator for the first seven 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 47 new business licenses and 1 business license renewal in July 2018.

Monthly Business License Reports are available on the  City of Prince George website.
Passengers 
39,926 passengers moved through the Prince George International Airport (YXS) in July 2018. This was a decrease of 5.1% or 2,132 fewer passengers over July 2017 when passenger volume was 42,058. Year-to-date, air passenger traffic at YXS for 2018 is up 3.9% 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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