July 2020 year-to-date retail trade is down by -4.0% over the same period in 2019.

• Sub-sectors that posted increases were: Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers (5.1%), Health and personal care stores (9.1%), Grocery stores (9.1%), Beer, wine and liquor stores (14.7%), and General Merchandise stores (4.0%).
• Sub-sectors that posted declines were: New car dealers (-14.4%), Used car dealers (-14.4%), Gasoline stations (-18.1%), Furniture and home furnishings stores (-10.8%), Electronics and appliance stores (-1.3%), Clothing and clothing accessories stores (-32.4%), Sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores (-22.7%), and All other (-0.4%).

July 2020 year-to-date new motor vehicle (units) sales were down -27.4% from July 2019. New minivans, sport-utility vehicles, light and heavy trucks, vans and buses sales were down -24.9. New passenger cars sales were also down -43.4%.

July 2020 year-to-date restaurant receipts were down -20.8% over the same period in 2019. Within restaurant receipts, all categories posted declines: Special food services (-30.0%), Drinking places (alcoholic beverages) (-51.6%), Full-service restaurants (-42.5%), and Limited-service eating places (-7.1%).

July 2020 year-to-date manufacturing sales were down by -17.9% over the same period in 2019.

• Sub-sectors that posted increases were: Machinery manufacturing sales (5.4%).
• Sub-sectors that posted decreases were: Food manufacturing sales (-16.5%), Fabricated metal product manufacturing sales (-7.5%), and All other Manufacturing sales (-22.4%).

July 2020 year-to-date wholesale trade was down -4.9% over the same period in 2019.

• Sub-sectors that posted increases were: Farm product merchant wholesalers (5.3%), and Food, beverage and tobacco merchant wholesalers (14.2%).
• Sub-sectors that posted declines were: Machinery, equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers (-1.0%), Building material and supplies merchant wholesalers (-6.1%), and All other (-12.7%).

Although agricultural products are showing surprising resilience, total International merchandise exports were down -1.6% year-to-date August 2020 over August 2019.

• Sub-sectors that posted increases were: Farm, fishing and intermediate food products (27.4%), Industrial machinery, equipment and parts (6.3%), Electronic and electrical equipment and parts (18.7%), Motor vehicles and parts (4.0%), and Consumer goods (9.4%).
• Led by weak energy exports, sub-sectors that posted decreases were: Energy products (-35.3%), Metal ores and non-metallic minerals (-13.4%), Metal and non-metallic mineral products (-60.1%), Basic and industrial chemical, plastic and rubber products (-14.3%), Forestry products and building and packaging materials (-6.7%), Aircraft and other transportation equipment and parts (-71.8%), and Special transactions (-12.0%).

Construction employment declined throughout 2019 with weak housing and residential building permit activity. In the first 9 months of 2020, this trend continued despite a surge in residential housing starts. Year-to-date September construction employment was down -6,611 positions or -14.0% from the same period in 2019.

Recovering from an exceptionally soft 2019 and reflecting pent up demand, September 2020 total year-to-date housing starts were up by 573 units or 38.4%.

• Year-to-date increases were observed in: singles (82 units or 12.3%), row (96 units or 51.9%), apartment and other types (422 units or 79.6%).
• Year-to-date declines were noted in: semi-detached (-27 units or -23.9%).

August 2020 year-to-date building permits, a leading indicator of construction activity, were down -26.3% over the same period in 2019.

• Sub-sectors that posted increases were limited to: residential (0.3%).
• Sub-sectors that posted declines were: industrial (-36.4%), commercial (-44.2%), and institutional and governmental (-61.0%).

September 2020 year-to-date employment in Information, culture and recreation was down -2,467 positions or -11.4% over the same period in 2019.

July 2020 year-to-date average weekly earnings in Information and cultural industries was up 2.6%.

2020 Q3 Provincial population was up 0.5% over 2019 Q3 to 1,178,681. However, the Q3 population is down by 937 persons from Q2 2020. Contributing to this decline is the pandemic-related drop in international in-migration, while net inter-provincial migration has been negative every quarter since Q2 2013.

In 3 dramatic rate cuts on March 4th, March 13th, and March 27th, the Bank of Canada cut its benchmark interest rate to 0.25%. The Central Bank initially cut its rate to 1.25% at a previously scheduled meeting on March 4th to help counteract the impact of COVID-19. The unscheduled rate decisions on March 13th and 27th shaved a further percentage point from the rate as a proactive measure to boost the economy amid pandemic fears. The Bank of Canada plans to keep interest rates near zero until 2023, assuming that there will be a vaccine by 2022.

According to the Conference Board of Canada, in its pre-pandemic Winter 2020 forecast, the forecast for 2020 is for 1% growth in real GDP and 1.7% in 2021. In its Spring 2020 forecast, accounting for pandemic impacts, the Conference Board predicted a 5% decline in the province's GDP in 2020, with employment in the province expected to fall by 2.8%. The report expects both GDP and employment to rebound in 2021, by 5.4% and 2.9%, respectively.