It’s been a day or so since I posted my survey on which economic indicators we should track. I’ve been tickled pink by the response, both on myREINspace and by those filling out the form. There have been 28 responses thus far, and some interesting trends have appeared. (There’s still time for even more responses. Go do it now!)

When I asked what economic measures you’d like to have compiled on a regular basis, your top five were:

1. Population Growth 
2. Interprovincial Migration 
3. Average Weekly Earnings 
4. Unemployment Rate 
5. Real GDP (Current)

However you surprised the heck out of me with the next question. When asked what areas you cared about, you went for Alberta big time! Almost half of you picked Alberta, and the other half were split between Provincial stats and the major Canadian cities. No one seems to care about national average stats. 

And finally, people seem to want some granularity to the stats. I’m still going to present annual info, as lots of it exists back to 1962, but half want quarterly or some variation thereof, and half want monthly stats. I suppose the monthly stats are good for identifying meso-type trends. 

And some of the best of the other comments:

• Job growth (number of net new jobs created – full and part time) 
• Housing starts/building permits issued, housing affordability index, # jobs created/lost
• Housing Affordability Index, Average household income by town, Retail sales in town
• Manufacturing growth

Maybe now would be a good time to also track foreclosure numbers and bankruptcies and compare Alberta with other jurisdictions? Investors need to have more confidence today.

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