In this blog post, Tembo will give its readers an overview of the state of Toronto’s economy and its major financial indicators. In this way, Tembo hopes to reveal the overall good shape, flexibility, and versatility of Toronto’s economic state. All in all, Toronto’s economic indicators are very positive.
The Macro-Economy
- Unemployment is at 6.9%, slightly higher than the national figure but still a decent number, remember that population is rising by 70,000, placing pressure on job creation.
- Mean hourly wages in Toronto meet provincial and national averages, at $29.
- GDP is growing by roughly 2%, at the rate of inflation, it’s projected to stay at this amount for the next several years. The economy had a strong growth spurt from 2014-2017
- Toronto’s economy boomed from 1998-2001, averaging rates of well over 5% in those years
- There are 1,572.4 million jobs are in Toronto, contributing to an office vacancy rate of 4.1%, there have been only 10 business bankruptcies in our City this year
- The industrial vacancy rate is 1.5%, down from 5.5% in late 2013
- Consumer prices rose by 1.7% this year
- Retail sales in Toronto will exceed $32 billion for 2019, most of which was cars and car parts
Buildings under construction
- There are 246 mid and high-rise buildings under construction in Toronto as of October 2019, up from 202 in October of 2018
- The pace of building continues to rise, Toronto is competing with New York City for the title of most mid to high rise construction in North America
- 2022 will be a giant year for construction in our City as there are a huge number of supertall buildings that will be completed in that year
- These will include the 83 floor The One building at Yonge-Bloor, YSL Residences at 85 floors just down the street, and Sugar Wharf Tower D on Queens Quay which will reach 70 floors
- This article from the Financial Post has lots of information and an interactive video of some of the supertall structures that are being built right now: https://business.financialpost.com/real-estate/property-post/vertical-city-80-new-skyscrapers-planned-in-toronto-as-demand-climbs
Housing
- Disappointingly, housing starts in Q3 2019 were 9% lower than in Q3 2018 but are up 11.5% from Q2 2019
- There were roughly 5,000 housing starts in Q3 2019, most of which were apartments and condos
- The average house price in our City is $925K
Most analysts and experts consider Toronto’s economy to continue
to remain healthy and reasonably stable in the coming years. Analysts believe the biggest threats are high debt levels, a rapid rise in interest rates, or a severe recession from abroad.