P.G. Economic Base Changing – Opinion 250 – News for Northern and Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada

P.G. Economic Base Changing - Opinion 250 - News for Northern and Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada: "By 250 News
Thursday, October 29, 2009 01:41 PM

Prince George, B.C.- A new study by Initiatives Prince George indicates the face of Prince George’s economy is changing.

The 2009 report “Economic Structure by Industry” provides a broad overview of the contribution of industries to the local economy.
“This report confirms that Prince George has moved to become more of a knowledge-based resource economy,” says IPG’s Vice President of Economic Development Katherine Scouten.

“Overall growth of the local economy has come from service industries which include knowledge based sectors, and this has more than made up for declines in employment in primary and secondary industries. In addition, we know that the re-structuring of secondary industries has been in large part knowledge-based and has allowed us to become more competitive globally. This shift has added strength and stability to the Prince George economy.”

Some of the key findings of the Economic Structure Report include:
• A gain since 2003 of 2,600 jobs
• A higher rate of growth in tertiary employment than in employment as a whole over the last two decades, with growth fairly evenly distributed amongst public and private sector activities
• Declines in Forestry and Manufacturing employment being offset by growth in service producing sectors
• Significant growth in the Educational Services and Health Care & Social Assistance sectors over the past twenty years
• More recent growth in the Professional, Scientific and Technical Services sector with the addition of 600 jobs since 2003"