The HST will likely cause Toronto’s construction slump to be protracted
June 10, 2009 - John Clinkard
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06/11/2009 - posted by Javon I.
Whenever our financial institutions lower the credit limits, without the customer’s consent or input, by the way, it isn’t a happy thing for a lot of people. It leads to higher interest rates, and when those credit limits get lowered it isn’t good for small businesses that depend on the corporate credit card to pay bills and get crucial supplies. Obama’s stimulus and tax incentives haven’t driven a lot of spending, banks won’t lend, but the positive is that the personal saving rate is increasing, and some are taking the opportunity to get out of debt. Lowering the credit limits leads a lot of people to look into a cash advance instead.
However it is measured, the economic pulse of the Toronto census metro area (CMA) has slowed significantly over the past twelve months. Probably the best gauge of this deterioration in economic health is the growth rate of total employment. Since May 2008, year-over-year job growth has slowed from +2.5% to -2.9% in May of this year. This dramatic drop in the rate of job creation has caused Toronto’s unemployment rate to jump from 6.6% to 9.1%, the highest level in over 12 years and the seventh highest unemployment rate among the country’s 27 CMAs.