January 10, 1998
(Executive Council)

Premier Brian Tobin said today that there is solid evidence that the long awaited turnaround in the provincial economy has finally begun to take hold. Statistics Canada released the latest results of its Labour Force Survey yesterday. The agency reported that Newfoundland had the second strongest December job gain of any province with 4.8 per cent growth as 8,800 new jobs were created between December 1996 and December 1997.

The premier said: "This is not just the latest sign of improvement in Newfoundland's economic position but the most significant to date. The level of employment achieved last month was higher than in any December since the groundfish moratorium began in 1992. It was also the strongest growth in employment we've seen in the 1990s. And the growth rate was nearly double that at the national level.

"Employment rose in all but three months of 1997, with December marking the fifth consecutive month of increasingly stronger employment growth." Employment gains averaged 2.5 per cent in the last five months of 1997.

The province's unemployment rate fell by 2.8 percentage points in December. "No other province had a larger decline in its unemployment rate last month. Of Statistics Canada's four labour force regions in the province, all four recorded a lower unemployment rate. The decline in unemployment last year was consistent with trends in the social assistance caseload which declined by as much as eight to 10 per cent in some months during the last half of 1997," said Premier Tobin.

"As in previous months," said the premier, "the December employment gains were broadly based across a number of important sectors in both urban and rural parts of the province."

Strong growth continued to be recorded in the Community, Business, and Personal Services industry, and this may partly reflect the opening of two new call centres, and increasing demand for business services reflecting, among other things, activity related to offshore oil and Voisey's Bay.

Manufacturing recorded growth both in fish processing and other manufacturing activities. Higher fish processing employment in December most likely reflected increased quotas for shrimp and herring. Also, the Marystown Shipyard contributed to the employment gains in other manufacturing. Overall, goods sector employment increased by 6.9 per cent while service sector employment grew by 4.3 per cent.

In responding to the fifth consecutive month of relatively good news about provincial labour markets released by Statistics Canada, Premier Tobin indicated that government is "becoming increasingly optimistic that we have indeed turned the corner - but we aren't out of the woods yet. The ongoing evidence of a turnaround in the provincial economy and labour markets means that we are on the right track. Our economic policies and our efforts to restore fiscal stability are working."

The premier was careful, however, to reiterate points that he made when responding to information released by Statistics Canada earlier in 1997, emphasizing that "this only serves to underscore the importance of continuing our efforts to restore fiscal stability and stay the fiscal course, and to create a positive economic and fiscal climate in which businesses can flourish and the people of the province can prosper. It will take careful fiscal and economic planning to make sure we stay on the right track over the long haul."

Contact: Heidi Bonnell, (709) 729-3564.