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Things are looking down for both Saskatchewan and Regina’s economies this year, according to the Conference Board of Canada.
The board predicts the province’s real GDP to decline 0.2 per cent this year. It says it’s thanks to drought conditions pulling out of the agricultural sector, construction cooling down, and the severe corrections in the agricultural sector. Though potash and uranium production is expected to grow, it won’t be enough.
The GDP decline in 2015 would be a big decline from the last few years, which have averaged about a four per cent increase.
In Regina, the real GDP growth is expected to slow from 3.8 per cent in 2014, to just 1.6 per cent in 2015. The board says it’s thanks to a weak goods and services sector, a cool down in manufacturing growth, and a fall in construction output.
The board predicted the city’s population will grow, but not as fast as it has previously. Although there won’t be an employment decline over this year or next, unemployment will rise slightly.
In both cases, the board predicts the real GDP will rise again in 2016 to 2.6 per cent growth for Saskatchewan, and 2.4 per cent growth for Regina.
