As Regina’s economy heads into 2009, it is clearly operating at a level close to full capacity.

The Queen City is creating jobs faster than any other city in Canada. Despite losing 800 part time jobs over the past 12 months, Regina has added over 6,000 full-time positions. As a result, full-time employment grew by 6.8% year over year in August 2008, its fastest pace since early 2007.

Not only is the city creating new jobs, its unemployment rate sits at 3.9%, the fourth-lowest among all census metropolitan areas (CMAs) in the country.

Driven by unprecedented global demand for resources, manufacturing employment in Regina has exhibited double-digit growth over the past five months.

During this period, employment in construction has also been particularly strong, due to robust growth of industrial and commercial building in the CMA. New projects include the expansion of Consumer Co-operative’s oil refinery and Canadian Pacific Railway’s new inter-modal facility.

Furthermore, strong growth of employment has contributed to a significant increase in net-migration to the Regina area, which in turn has sharply escalated housing demand.

According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, prices of existing single-family homes are up by 36% year over year in August. Meanwhile, prices for new homes were up 29.6% in July, significantly faster than second-place St. John’s 24.3% year-over-year increase and third-place Saskatoon’s 13.1% rise.

Looking forward, although the recent drop in resource prices will probably help cool energy investment over the next several quarters, the outlook for Regina remains very positive. Major energy and infrastructure projects — including upgrades to the City of Regina’s wastewater treatment facilities and construction of the $1-billion Harbour Landing subdivision — will ensure that spending remains strong.

This sustained strong investment climate is likely to maintain a positive pattern of employment growth well into 2009. According to the latest Employment Outlook Survey by Manpower Inc., Regina’s net hiring plans, which increased from +27 in the third quarter to +40 in the fourth, are the strongest in the country.

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