Infoline Highlights for the Week of December 16-20

Price of New Housing - The cost of new housing in the province’s two largest cities was lower in November than in the same month last year. The 1.0% decrease in Victoria was the result of a decline in housing prices (-2.4%), as land value (+1.7%) was on the rise.
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Retail Sales -Retail sales in British Columbia dipped 0.9% (seasonally adjusted) in October, following a lacklustre September (-0.2%). Nationally, retail sales were down 1.2%, due mostly to lower sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers and at building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers.
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Visitor Entries - Visitor entries to B.C. from the U.S. and overseas declined in October (-1.7%, seasonally adjusted), reversing a 0.9% boost recorded in September. Entries from overseas sources were down 1.5% and travel to B.C. from the U.S. also slowed (-1.9%).
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Wholesale Sales - Wholesale sales in the province dipped 3.8% (seasonally adjusted) in October. Weakened sales in most subsectors, most markedly for the personal and household goods and food, beverage and tobacco subsectors, explained the decrease.
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Average Weekly Earnings - Average weekly earnings of payroll employees in British Columbia climbed $4.33 (+0.4%) to $1,012.45 (seasonally adjusted, current dollars) in October. At the industrial level, earnings were up most notably in utilities (+2.9%) and finance and insurance (+4.1%).
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French Language - In 2016, Census data identified 64,320 individuals in British Columbia (1.4% of the total population) who indicated that French was their first official language. This is compared to the overall Canadian population.
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Food Services and Drinking Places - Receipts at food services and drinking places in B.C. were down 0.5% (seasonally adjusted) in October. Canadian establishments saw receipts stall (+0.0%) as revenues were down in five provinces.
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Employment Insurance - The number of regular Employment Insurance (EI) recipients in B.C. increased (+1.3% seasonally adjusted) to 41,090 in October. A 0.5% decline in the number of younger beneficiaries (aged 15 to 24 years) was offset by higher numbers among older recipients.
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Manufacturing Sales - Manufacturing sales in B.C. dipped 3.6% (seasonally adjusted) in October. Sales of manufactured paper products were down for the third straight month (-13.0%), helping to drive total receipts for non-durables 7.4% lower.
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Consumer Price Index - British Columbia’s consumer price index (CPI) was 2.2% higher (unadjusted) in November 2019 than in the same month of 2018. On a monthly basis, the CPI dropped 0.3% from October 2019.
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Current Surveys

• Active Transportation Strategy Survey
  
• BC Hydro Workforce Profile Survey
• BC Public Service Exit Survey
• BC Public Service New Job Survey
• BC Student Outcomes Survey of Baccalaureate Graduates
  
• BC Wildfire Service Auxiliary Work Environment
• Capilano University Employee Engagement
  
• City of Victoria Business Survey
• Fraser Basin Council Non-Residential Flood Vulnerability
  
• Long Term Disability (LTD) Application Process Survey
• OCIO ES Client Satisfaction Survey
  
• Workforce Development Agreement Outcomes
• Workforce Development Agreement Employer Outcomes
  

You can read more about any of these by visiting our Current Surveys page.