Heavy equipment owners look to restructure as downturn continues.
ATB Financial, the largest Alberta-based financial institution, states in a report released July 4 that there’s “a glimmer of light” at the end of the province’s darkened economic tunnel.
That conclusion is based on an Ipsos online survey of 1,007 respondents conducted in April. But it’s a minuscule glimmer, some would argue.
Just five percent of those surveyed viewed Alberta’s economy as much better than it was six months ago, but that’s a three percent increase which ends a downward slide of opinion that began in the fall of 2015. Still, 44 percent view the economy as much worse than it was six months ago, down from 47 percent in Q1 2016. Glimmer indeed!
ATB’s survey report also outlines the huge impact the downturn has had, finding that 55 percent of Calgarians and 53 percent of Edmontonians claimed to be significantly impacted by the drop in oil prices, a higher rate than in other parts of Alberta.
Province-wide, 49 percent of Albertans say they’ve been impacted by the slump in oil and natural gas prices which have plummeted more than 50 percent since late 2014. A whopping 30 percent of survey respondents said they’d lost their jobs as a result.
