Saskatoon’s economic recovery has now risen to 79.3% as measured by the Saskatoon Rregional Economic Development Association’s (SREDA) economic recovery tracker.
This update shows a marked increase compared to the previous quarter’s rating of 67.1%.
Several areas are fully recovered, including:
• Active businesses,
• A majority of aggregate sectors (9 out of 15),
• Manufacturing shipments, and
• Retail sales.
Other factors have boosted the rating:
• Total GDP recovery is now 95.4% of pre-pandemic levels.
• Travel and hospitality have begun to recover. Airport passenger traffic rose from 9.1%to59.2%recovery. Hotel occupancy in August 2021 was 99.5% of pre-pandemic levels, although seasonal shifts are still expected.
Saskatoon’s recovery is being dampened by falling employment numbers. Employment recovery fell from 89.1% to 81.5% this quarter.
This is in part because of a reduced participation rate. Saskatoon’s unemployment rate is also currently higher than the Canadian average.
Although rising COVID-19 cases suggest that further recovery may face challenges, vaccination rates have begun to increase in response to Saskatchewan’s mandatory vaccine passport program for event venues and several types of businesses. A total of 71% of those eligible are now fully vaccinated.
SREDA’s Saskatoon Economic Recovery Tracker (SERT) is an international award winning economic tracking tool that monitors ten key indicators for Saskatoon’s economy compared to pre-pandemic levels.
The tool, which is the first of its kind in Canada, uses data from Statistics Canada, the Conference Board of Canada, the International Monetary Fund and industry associations.
Each indicator has a recovery percentage that is weighted to achieve a total recovery rating for the Saskatoon economy.
The SERT dashboard is updated monthly. To view the tracker, visit SREDA.com.