The 2021 provincial budget tabled last month allows us to gain additional insight into how COVID-19 has affected the economy and the B.C. government’s finances. After digesting the economic and fiscal information presented in the budget, three main takeaways stood out for me.
The first is that our economy has staged an pretty decent revival from the COVID-driven carnage of last spring. For example, retail sales are 12 per cent above the level set in February 2020. Housing markets are on fire, with dramatic increases in sales activity and recent advances in housing starts.
Manufacturing shipments have jumped after a temporary drop in the first half of 2020. The province’s burgeoning advanced technology sector is booming. And the natural resource sector – consisting of forestry, energy, mining and agri-food – is benefitting from buoyant world commodity markets and making a vital contribution to the province’s ongoing economic recovery.
Perhaps most notable is what’s happened in the labour market since last spring. B.C. has recouped the bulk of the 400,000 jobs lost during the harrowing months of February-April 2020. By March 2021, total employment was higher than 13 months earlier.
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