The following article mentioned that Ottawa hi-tech is going to be in recession this year. The conclusion is different from stat can data. Post here just for reference not for panic
. BTW, somewhere is saying nortel start to lift the hiring freeze even while layoff is till on going. It's a good sign though considering this is the biggest employer in Ottawa region.
From OB
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Posted Thursday, February 7, 2002
Ottawa in recession, worse to come: report
By Leo Valiquette, InBusiness Media Network
The local economy is in recession and the outlook looks bleak for the rest of the year, according a report Thursday from the Conference Board of Canada.
In its latest Metropolitan Outlook, the board said the largest metropolitan economies in the country, Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa-Gatineau, will suffer the most in 2002.
It is no secret that Ottawa has felt the sting of the tech meltdown over the past year and a half. Economic growth slowed to 1.3 per cent in 2001. For 2002 the Conference Board is forecasting it to fall to -0.6 per cent.
The one bright spot lies in the public sector. After years of downsizing, the federal government has returned to the labour market in a big way and will mute the negative effects of the tech slump, the board said.
According to the report, there will be further consolidation in the tech sector due to the inventory glut that still dogs telecom equipment makers such as JDS Uniphase and Nortel Networks. As evidence, the report cites the latest national inventory data from Statistics Canada, which reported that, as of September, inventories of telecom equipment remained three times higher than the amount of monthly shipments.
Until that inventory surplus bleeds off, there will be further consolidation in the sector, resulting in more cutbacks among local telecom firms. The Conference Board doesn't expect a turnaround until late in the year.
That flies in the face of the local employment figures from Statistics Canada for the last two months. According to Statscan, the high tech sector posted its first gain in eight months in November, with 1,500 new jobs added to the local market, half of the total jobs created. In December that figure rose to 3,800 new jobs, accounting for 63 per cent of the total 6,000 jobs added to the local workforce.
But the Conference Board's Alan Arcand said it is too soon label the recent gains as the sign of recovery. "I'm reluctant to call that a trend yet," he said, adding that Friday's employment figures due out from Statscan will be the key indicator.
Arcand said the board is expecting employment to be flat for the first half of 2002, with "the bleeding to end in the middle of the year," though he does believe the massive job cuts of 2001 will not continue into this year.
If the Conference Board's prediction holds true, than the fallout will continue to impact the local construction market due to a glut of commercial space.
One consequence of the economic downturn and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that the board believes could help stimulate the local high-tech scene more quickly is increased demand for alternatives to business travel, such as videoconferencing and various forms of wireless communications.
. BTW, somewhere is saying nortel start to lift the hiring freeze even while layoff is till on going. It's a good sign though considering this is the biggest employer in Ottawa region.From OB
--------
Posted Thursday, February 7, 2002
Ottawa in recession, worse to come: report
By Leo Valiquette, InBusiness Media Network
The local economy is in recession and the outlook looks bleak for the rest of the year, according a report Thursday from the Conference Board of Canada.
In its latest Metropolitan Outlook, the board said the largest metropolitan economies in the country, Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa-Gatineau, will suffer the most in 2002.
It is no secret that Ottawa has felt the sting of the tech meltdown over the past year and a half. Economic growth slowed to 1.3 per cent in 2001. For 2002 the Conference Board is forecasting it to fall to -0.6 per cent.
The one bright spot lies in the public sector. After years of downsizing, the federal government has returned to the labour market in a big way and will mute the negative effects of the tech slump, the board said.
According to the report, there will be further consolidation in the tech sector due to the inventory glut that still dogs telecom equipment makers such as JDS Uniphase and Nortel Networks. As evidence, the report cites the latest national inventory data from Statistics Canada, which reported that, as of September, inventories of telecom equipment remained three times higher than the amount of monthly shipments.
Until that inventory surplus bleeds off, there will be further consolidation in the sector, resulting in more cutbacks among local telecom firms. The Conference Board doesn't expect a turnaround until late in the year.
That flies in the face of the local employment figures from Statistics Canada for the last two months. According to Statscan, the high tech sector posted its first gain in eight months in November, with 1,500 new jobs added to the local market, half of the total jobs created. In December that figure rose to 3,800 new jobs, accounting for 63 per cent of the total 6,000 jobs added to the local workforce.
But the Conference Board's Alan Arcand said it is too soon label the recent gains as the sign of recovery. "I'm reluctant to call that a trend yet," he said, adding that Friday's employment figures due out from Statscan will be the key indicator.
Arcand said the board is expecting employment to be flat for the first half of 2002, with "the bleeding to end in the middle of the year," though he does believe the massive job cuts of 2001 will not continue into this year.
If the Conference Board's prediction holds true, than the fallout will continue to impact the local construction market due to a glut of commercial space.
One consequence of the economic downturn and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that the board believes could help stimulate the local high-tech scene more quickly is increased demand for alternatives to business travel, such as videoconferencing and various forms of wireless communications.
