Around Town: Fort McMurray News (Week of February 16)

It’s time for another edition of our weekly column from the A-Team. Here is some important news for this week.

Unemployment went up by 0.1 percent to 6.3 percent locally as the region lost 500 jobs last month. From Fort McMurray Today:

Unemployment up 0.1 per cent locally in January

Unemployment went up by 0.1 per cent to 6.3 per cent, while employment also dropped slightly to 71.8 per cent, a 0.2 per cent drop from December. However, the Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake saw a loss of 500 full-time jobs and an increase of 100 part-time jobs.

The construction industry lost 100 workers, while 200 jobs were lost in the sector covering forestry, fishing, mining, and oil and gas work. Transportation and warehousing also saw a loss of 200 jobs.

Wholesale and retail saw a slight increase with 100 jobs, while accommodation and food services saw no change from December. Via fortmcmurraytoday.com

A loss of 80,000 jobs was recorded nationally January, according to Statistics Canada. Hopefully, sectors can add hundreds of new jobs for the unemployed.

In other news, Council is supporting the Alberta's first ever Métis consultation policy, according to Jaryn Vecchio of Mix News:

Council Supporting First of Its Kind Proposed Métis Consultation Policy

If approved by the provincial government, this will allow these communities a chance to discuss future industrial projects slated for traditional lands without the need to appeal.

More importantly, Quintal tells Mix News this would eliminate the need to litigate.

“That’s the biggest issue at hand. Litigation is very expensive and litigation is taking money away from our ability to deliver services and programs to our members.

Simply put, Quintal says litigation is an ‘injustice’ to the communities.

He notes the policy will also avoid the need to fight for every future project. h/t mix1037fm.com

If given the approval, this will be a good step forward for the community, as housing will be more accessible.

[caption id="attachment_28445" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Credit: www.mix1037fm.com/[/caption]

Lastly, home sales in January 2018 are continuing to rise and have nearly tripled compared to last year according to a new Fort McMurray REALTORS® report:

Home sales continue to increase into 2018

REALTORS® said this could mean the return of buyer confidence in the region.

The average selling price for a single family detached home has also decreased by 5.42 per cent.

January’s average selling price was $572,668 compared to an average of $605,495 in 2017.

Duplexes on the other hand saw a nearly 11 per cent increase in sale price. read more at mymcmurray.com

The housing market is looking to be more balanced than it was last year, as we've written about recently.

That’s all for this weeks’ roundup. Check back on The A-Team blog for more news and updates on Fort McMurray.

The following article Around Town: Fort McMurray News (Week of February 16) is courtesy of The A-Team YMM Blog