Study shows healthy bounce in Hamilton’s economy
http://www.thespec.com/news/business...lton-s-economy
Hamilton’s economy bounced back from the last recession faster than those of its neighbours and is poised for even more growth.
A new study by the Social Planning Council to be released Wednesday concludes key pieces of the city’s economic development strategy helped draw enough new jobs and investment here that Hamilton’s unemployment rate, at 6.7 per cent, was a full percentage point below the provincial average during 2011 and the situation got even better through last year.
“The key message here is that Hamilton bounced back much faster than many other areas,” said social planner Sara Mayo. “This is just a small picture of Hamilton’s economy and we hope it will spark a discussion about how to improve the economy.”
The council’s study is one of a series to be released over coming months looking at ways of pushing the city’s economy forward. Wednesday’s version looks at unemployment rates for the city and its neighbours and offers three key ideas for doing that: putting more money in the hands of the poorest workers, universal child care to help more people get out to work, and attracting more immigrants to meet a growing skills shortage.
During the most recent recession, the report notes, Hamilton’s unemployment rate went from 6.7 per cent in 2007 to a peak of 9.1 per cent in 2009. At the end of 2011 it stood at 6.8 per cent. For the same period the rate for Ontario went from 6.4 per cent to 7.8 per cent.
The magic of this number, compared to the monthly figures released by Statistics Canada, is that it is for Hamilton alone. The monthly StatsCan release is for the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area that includes Grimsby and Burlington. The most recent unemployment rate for the CMA is 5.8 per cent in December. The provincial rate stood at 7.9 per cent. Throughout 2012 the Hamilton CMA jobless rate averaged 6.5 per cent compared to 7.8 for the province. (These are “official” unemployment numbers that count only people actively searching for work.)
The report concludes Hamilton’s strength came from several factors including economic diversification efforts that mean the city doesn’t live and die by shifts in the demand for steel, better home prices than in Toronto, skills development collaboration between employers, and educators and a focus on poverty reduction.
The social planning council’s prescriptions include making Hamilton a Living Wage community, more access to child care and efforts to attract more immigrants to the city.
“These aren’t new ideas but it takes a while for there to be consensus around some of them,” Mayo admitted. “These ideas have been around for a while, but an austerity environment makes it hard to get buy-in around some of them.”
The report notes 10,000 Hamilton workers are employed full time, but at wages so low they are beneath the poverty line. Supporters of the Living Wage campaign say a person needs to make $14.95 an hour to afford “a minimally decent standard of living in Hamilton.”
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The report notes Hamilton’s current program for subsidized child care has a waiting list of more than 1,700 children, an increase of over 50 per cent since 2011, and available provincial funding will cover only about half the children living in poverty.
More child care, the report argues, means more people free to work — in Quebec such an effort produced enough new tax revenue to pay for the expanded child-care programs. It also argues Hamilton needs more immigrants — with the right skills — to replace retiring workers.
For Mayor Bob Bratina, the social planning study confirms Hamilton is on the move.
“Internally we’ve known this all along, but maybe now the public will finally be convinced we’re on a rising tide,” he said. “It shows investors are starting to see Hamilton as a viable destination.”
Neil Everson, director of the city’s economic development department, saw the results as an endorsement of the conscious effort to diversify the economy. Both he and Bratina noted an immigrant attraction strategy for the city is being developed.
David Adames, president of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, found the study “very encouraging.”
He added the chamber is on record as generally supporting the Living Wage campaign, as long as any increases are phased in over a period of time.
“Companies get the need for this, but they also have a bottom line they have to manage toward,” he said.
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