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       Sudbury Labour Market Information Newsletter - December 1996 Prepared By Marilyn Prus, Unemployment Statistics Sudbury’s unemployment rate (three month averaging) in December 1996 was 9.0% , down .5% from the previous month and down from .4% from December 1995. There are slight indications within the economy that suggest a hint of growth. in employment. For example, there was a 0.3 percentage point increase in the employment-population ratio this month. According to rank, the Sudbury Census Metropolitan Area had the second highest unemployment rate among all urban centres with Oshawa continuing to hold the number one position at 9.4%. Hamilton had the lowest unemployment rate at 6.6%.(Northern Ontario Regional Economist) There was an increase of 515 in the total number of active employment insurance claims from December 1995 to December 1996. As of December 26,1996, there were 8,739 active claims but only 8,224 active claims as of December 29, 1995. This increase in active claims in the month of December can be directly attributed to the lay-offs in the public sector and the domino effect of these lay-offs. (Established Claims Analysis) A breakdown of the above statistics are as follows: Effective December 29, 1995 Effective December 26, 1996 Sudbury: 7124 active claims Sudbury: 7597 active claims Espanola: 1100 active claims Espanola: 1142 active claims Total: 8224 active claims Total: 8739 active claims Frustration grows with jobless rate - The job market in Sudbury is shifting. According to part of an Sudbury Regional Development Corporation report on Population and Employment Statistics, the unemployment rate during the first six months of 1996 averaged 10.3 per cent. That’s up from an average rate of 8.6 per cent during the first six months of 1995. The job market for young people aged 15 to 24 lost 1,000 jobs. At the same time, 1,500 jobs opened up for workers 25 to 44. As well, people 45 and older gained 500 new jobs which means the region’s economy produced 1,000 new jobs, two thirds of them part-time. The report says that the population in the Region of Sudbury is 166,344. The 1991 census calculated a population of 161,210. ( The Sudbury Star, Thursday December 12,1996 ) Bits and Pieces How women have fared better in tough times - Four years ago, women accounted for half of all public-sector jobs, but only 44 percent of those in the private sector. Last week, Nicole Turmel of the Public Service Alliance of Canada said women are being hit disproportionately by job cuts in government offices, hospitals and schools. But, this is not the case across the country as a whole. Women have accounted for only 20 per cent of the job losses in the public sector, broadly defined to include all three levels of government, Crown companies, educational institutions and hospitals. Since 1992, employment in the public sector has fallen 5.3 per cent. The number of men in those jobs has dropped 8.6 per cent while the number of women has fallen only 2.1 per cent. Across the whole work force, women generally fared better than men in the 1990’s, mainly because men absorbed most of the big job losses between 1990 and 1992 when the economy went into recession. Since then, women account for just over 45 per cent of the work force and they’ve picked up about 46 per cent of the new jobs created since 1992. If you put the whole six years together, women have outperformed men, picking up 69 per cent of the roughly 500,000 jobs added since 1990. (In 1977, almost 20 per cent of us had government jobs, but the proportion has been sliding more or less steadily since then, to 15.4 per cent this year-Statistics Canada’s monthly labour-force survey). The numbers tell a clear story - so far, women have survived the job traumas of government cuts much better than men. ( The Globe and mail, Monday, December 2, 1996 ) Survey finds pride in Canadian products high - Canadians stand among the world’s most patriotic consumers when it comes to choosing products and entertainment, a new global survey shows. Nearly 60 per cent of Canadians rate their own country’s products as very good to excellent, but only 41 per cent feel that way about Japanese goods and 34 per cent about US imports, according to an annual poll conducted by advertising agency Bozell Worldwide Inc., and the Gallop Organization. The Canadian pride in their own products is not yet shared by the rest of the world. Canada ranks sixth among 14 countries in terms of the global perception of the quality of its manufactured goods. Part of the Canadian image problem may be a lack of knowledge about the country’s products in many parts of the world. ( The Globe and Mail, Wednesday, December 4, 1996 ) Information technology sector booming - Industry output grows but employment drops during five-year period - Canada’s information technology industry grew an average of 8.1 per cent a year between 1990 and 1995, pushing its share of gross domestic product to 7.6 per cent from 5.5 per cent. But the number of people working in the industry actually fell during that period. Statistics Canada described the industry as a research and development power-house, spending about $2.5-billion annually and employing almost 25,000 research and development workers. Software and services companies added 19,000 workers through the decade while telecommunications carriers dropped 25,000 employees. Manufacturers of computers and other electronic equipment downsized rapidly in 1991 when the recession hit and kept employment levels steady until last year, when they went on a hiring binge and took on 10,000 people. Statistics Canada said ‘Canada accounts for only about 1 per cent of world exports of information technology products, (but) it has earned a reputation as a world leader in telecommunications. It has also emerged as a significant producer of software and computer services.’ ( The Globe and Mail, Friday, December 6, 1996 ) Job training for the future planned in West Bay - Mnidoo Mnising, which administers federal job training programs for the area’s first nations, met recently with local educators for a full day of brainstorming sessions to help determine the training people will need in the new millennium. Areas identified were: the need for better communications skills in English, business marketing, money management and financing, personal life skills such as time management and conflict resolution, and adequate career counselling so that students have a realistic idea of what field of work they should go into. (The Manitoulin Recorder, Wednesday, November 27, 1996 ) Seniors’ centres help jobless boomers - Seniors’ employment centres, funded through donations and government grants, match employers with job seekers while others provide career counselling and resume services. Most centres opened almost two decades ago, across Canada, to help people over 65 get odd jobs. They had retired happily, their homes were paid for and they had pensions but wanted to keep active and make a few dollars on the side. But, there’s a new wrinkle in the demographic look of today’s clients. The centres have lowered their age of eligibility to anyone over 50, with some lowering it to 45. More and more of the clients are victims of cutbacks and downsizing who still have a mortgage, a vehicle and kids in university. Many clients routinely face discrimination by employers who believe older workers are technologically obsolete and are slower to learn. About 20 per cent are on welfare. Almost 40 per cent are on unemployment insurance or have recently lost those benefits and most of the job offers are for part-time or contract work. ( The Sudbury Star, Monday December 16, 1996 ) Retailers say shoppers are spending - Retailers from coast to coast are reporting that there are more shoppers out this year than last and they’re spending. Sales have increased about four per cent , says Toronto-based retail analyst Len Kubas. The Southam News-Angus Reid poll found that only 12 per cent of those surveyed planned to spend more this year than last, while 37 per cent said they intended to spend less and among those, more than half said the reason is they’re earning less or they or their spouse is unemployed. Forty-five per cent of those surveyed said they expected to spend the same, while the remainder said they do not celebrate Christmas. (The Sudbury Star, Monday, December 16,1996 ) Chretien tells jobless move to a new city - At a pair of televised town hall meetings, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien offered this advice for some of the country’s 1.5 million unemployed: move to a new city, go back to school, start your own business and hope you get lucky. He maintained that fighting the deficit had to be his No. 1 priority over the last three years and insisted it’s up to the private sector to generate jobs. (The Sudbury Star, Monday, December 9, 1996 ) Study pegs jobless costs at billions - A ground-breaking federal study says double-digit unemployment costs Canada up to $91 billion a year. The Human Resources Department study takes a rare look beyond the direct productivity costs of unemployment to measure the toll on physical and mental health, marriages and communities, i.e. malnutrition, alcoholism, suicide, heart disease and other illnesses due to high blood pressure, additional costs for health care, policing, social tension and so on. The research paper pegs the price of Canada’s 1994 jobless rate of 10.4 per cent at up to $77 billion in lost productivity and another $14 billion in health, crime and other social costs. ( The Sudbury Star, Monday, December 9, 1996 ) Job lack swell poverty statistics - The number of people who fell below Statistics Canada’s low-income cutoff rose by 264,00 to about 5.2 million last year. About 40 per cent, or 105,600, of those who joined the low-income list were children. The number of poor children rose to 1,472,000. A lack of steady full-time jobs for parents is blamed for the rise. All of the 99,000 new jobs created in 1995 were in part-time employment, while there was a net loss of 22,000 full-time positions. Average family income last year, after adjustments for inflation, was $55,247, down from $55,342 in 1994. ( The Globe and Mail, Thursday, December 12, 1996 ) Economists issue dollar warning - A sharp rise in the dollar to 80 cents (US) would quickly wipe out Canada’s huge trade surplus and drive the country’s current account back into a deficit, economists Jeff Rubin and Peter Buchanan of CIBC Wood Gundy Securities Inc. said. They argue that a stronger dollar would soon send Canada’s trade surplus into a tailspin, reduce Canada’s gross domestic product and eliminate 150,00 to 200,000 relatively high-paying jobs. A 16 per cent decline in the value of the dollar since 1991 has been the main reason Canada’s trade surplus has quadrupled to record levels in the past few years. ( The Globe and Mail, Tuesday, December 10, 1996 ) Researchers given five years to examine training industry - Armed with $5.6-million in grants awarded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, five different networks of university researchers across the country will work with private sector, community partners and international researchers to examine the role of technology, school-to-work links, informal training, the providers of training and the social context for upgrading. ( The Globe and Mail, Monday, December 9, 1996 ) Games Bid comes up short - The cities of Sudbury and North Bay came up short in their bid to co-host the 2001 Canada Summer Games. London and the regions of Niagara and Ottawa-Carleton were placed on a short list of nominees vying to host the Games. Sudbury’s committee chairman Gerry Lougheed Jr. said the distance between Sudbury and North Bay was a factor, according to Recreation Minister Marilyn Mushinski. Heritage Minister Sheila Copps will have the final say on which community holds the competition in 2001. Her decision is expected next June. Sudbury is hosting the IX Canadian Special Olympics Summer Games July 7-12, 1998. ( The Sudbury Star, Thursday, December 19, 1996 ) An overlooked statistic on employment - When Statistics Canada issues its labour force data each month, the media quickly pounce on a handful of what are often called the ‘headline’ numbers, i.e., the Rarely do you hear about the employment rate - the proportion of working-age Canadians (those 15 and older) who have a job. Statistics Canada economist Ernest Akyeampong finds the media’s omission of this indicator curious. The employment rate (also called the employment/population ratio) tends to be more stable over time than volatile indicators like the jobless rate. It stood at 53 per cent in 1947, trended down to about 50 per cent in the early 1960s, then (because women were flooding into the labour force and finding work) climbed to about 60 per cent in 1981. The recession in the early 1980s pushed it down to 57 per cent, but the following expansion pushed it up to 62.4 per cent just before the 1990s recession. Then, it fell to about 58.5 per cent, where it has remained since. Mr. Akyeampong cites three events that all had the potential to push the employment rate lower: the baby boom (who reached working age between the early 1960s and early 1980s), high levels of immigration (which increased steadily over the postwar period - from about 43,000 a year in the 1940s to 230,000 a year in the 1990s) and the aging of the population (Canadians 55 and over now comprise 25.1 per cent of the working-age population, compared with only 21.5 per cent in the 1950s). ( The Globe and Mail, Monday December 16, 1996 ) Mining Inco to boost nickel output 81 per cent by 2000 - Sopko - Inco Ltd. plans to increase its nickel production by 81 per cent over the next four years to 750 million pounds annually as production begins at Voisey’s Bay, Nfld. Inco Chief executive Michael Sopko told analysts Monday the company plans to increase its share of the world nickel market to 30 per cent by 2000 from 26 per cent this year. ( The Sudbury Star, Wednesday, December 4, 1996 ) Analysts see better prospects for ‘97 - Nickel, aluminum and zinc prices expected to emerge from slump while copper will drop - It has been a tough two years for Canada’s mining companies with base metal prices in a prolonged slump on the London Metal Exchange. The nickel market in 1996 has been a real disappointment because demand failed to match expectations while big off-exchange stockpiles of Russian nickel and a weak stainless steel sector resulted in rising inventories, said John Lydall, a mining analyst for First Marathon Securities Ltd. The fate of the market next year is largely in the hands of the stainless steel industry, which accounts for two-thirds of Western world nickel consumption. He expects nickel to average $3.50 a pound during 1997. Senior management at Inco Ltd. is predicting a resurgence in Western stainless steel production in 1997. (The Globe and Mail, Monday, December 30, 1996 ) Delegation from Kazakhstan visits Sudbury and Northern Ontario to learn more about our mining operations - Several visitors from the Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan, one of the richest republics in the former Soviet Union in terms of minerals and resources, are touring mining operations in Ontario to learn more about operations here. The mining industry in Kasakhstan, is quickly modernizing and they are keen on new developments in back-fill - a cement-like substance that is pumped into the mined-out areas of a hardrock mine. ‘Paste-fill’ was originally developed at Inco Limited. Golder Associates, a mining consulting firm in Sudbury, hosted the Kazakhstan delegation while in this city. ( The Sudbury Star, Sunday December 15, 1996 ) Canadian companies lead the way in mining research and development - Mining, basically looked down upon as a crude and coarse industry, is hardly the unsophisticated lout it is so often depicted to be. The extraction of minerals from the earth, and the processing of them, uses some of the most advanced technology employed by any industry in Canada. Today, computers and robotics run most of the stationary equipment in a mine and everything else is mechanized. Some mines in Northern Ontario are completely staffed with tradesmen and technicians. Unbeknownst to many, the Canadian mining industry has always been in the forefront of research and development and leads the world in mining technology. Private companies have always done most of their own research and development - and there has been an amazing amount of it - for obvious reasons. They know exactly what the problems are and how the solution must fit into their system. The Canadian mining industry has also contributed substantially to our high standard of living. ( The Sudbury Star, Sunday December 15, 1996 ) Construction Mindemoya Hospital gets nod to begin MD’s office renovations - Minister of Health Jim Wilson confirmed the ministry’s support for the renovating of physicians’ offices and examination areas at Mindemoya using The Manitoulin Health Centre (MHC) Corporation’s own funds. The renovation project is expected to cost around $100,000. The contract has been awarded to a local firm: Sheppard Brothers. ( The Manitoulin Expositor, Wednesday, December 11, 1996 ) Mnidoo Valley gets funding to complete back nine - Thanks to a contribution of $300,000. from the Transitional Jobs Fund, the final nine holes of the Assiginack-Wikwemikong Golf Course will be complete on schedule, next spring and summer and a club house will be begun. Algoma MP Brent St. Denis presented a cheque for $100,00. (to be followed by a further $200,000 ) to the M’nidoo Valley Golf Course. (The Manitoulin Expositor, Wednesday, November 20, 1996 ) Pioneer barn newest addition in Mindemoya museum project - A pioneer barn is the newest addition to the Central Manitoulin Museum in Mindemoya. Earlier in the year, the Central Manitoulin Historical Society bought several log buildings, constructed around 1880, from the Maguire farm in Tehkummah. The log buildings were torn down and then transported to the museum site where it was reconstructed by society members and community volunteers. (The Manitoulin Recorder, Wednesday, November 20, 1996 ) Some home-based businesses called ‘way of the future’ - Small businesses - those with less than 50 employees- are creating most of the new employment in this country, according to Cathy Bailey-Le-May, the Manager of the Sudbury office of KPMG, a chartered accountant and management consulting conglomerate, speaking to a group of entrepreneurs and potential new business operators at a workshop in Gore Bay. As large businesses and governments continue to downsize, job security will decrease even further. This will result in more contract work, she said, and the creation of more home-based small businesses. (The Manitoulin Expositor, Wednesday, December 4, 1996 ) $100,000 update for new sewage plant - A tender contract for nearly $110,000. has been awarded to Cecchetto and Sons Ltd. of Sudbury by Dennis Consultants for the completion of a sludge storage aeration system at Espanola’s recently completed sewage treatment plant. ( Mid-North Monitor, Wednesday, December 4, 1996 ) Value of building activity drops - Fewer big projects has resulted in the net construction value of building permits down 29 per cent from 1995 in the Sudbury region this year. While there’s been an 11 per cent increase in the number of overall permits issued - both in the industrial, commercial and institutional sector as well as for new homes and renovations - those permits are not worth nearly as much as last year. Guido Mazza, chief building official for the region said one of the reasons is a glut of vacant commercial space in the Sudbury region as well as the confusion spurred by province-wide restructuring and lower consumer confidence. The new home residential sector is doing better than it did last year and the residential renovations sector has jumped from 600 permits issued last year to 742. ( The Sudbury Star, Tuesday, December 3, 1996 ) On the Down Side Historic Mindemoya general store closes after close to a century of operation - After 98 years the C and M General Store, formerly Wagg’s, has closed its doors. The general store at one time offered everything from hardware and livestock feed to clothing, canned goods and fresh meat; as time went on, the post office and an ice cream parlour were added. Van Horne Gifts, another store which has been in existence in Mindemoya since the late 1940’s, has also closed its doors. ( The Manitoulin Expositor, Wednesday, December 11, 1996 ) Tough times. More and more Sudburians are declaring personal bankruptcy - Over the first seven months of 1996, personal bankruptcies rose by 49.7 per cent compared to the same period in 1995 in the city of Sudbury and 41.7 per cent in the Sudbury region, Industry Canada figures show. Chronic, high unemployment is by far the main reason for the continuing rise in bankruptcies, according to Bob Fontaine, a Sudbury bankruptcy trustee, with the second biggest cause of personal bankruptcies being marital breakdowns, he said. ( The Sudbury Star, Monday, December 9, 1996 ) Accountant bullish on ‘97 - The year 1997 could be good for Sudbury, but we should not get too comfortable, according to Sudbury accountant Austin Davey in his annual economic forecast. He was speaking at a Sudbury and District Chamber of Commerce luncheon on December 13, 1996. The potential impact a federal election could have on the economy next year as well as continued downsizing by governments can be very hurtful to Sudbury. If the private sector cannot pick up the slack, there will be ‘a major drag on Sudbury’s economy.’ And when the giant Labrador nickel deposit at Voisey’s Bay comes onstream, there is no question Sudbury will be hit in a negative way. (The Sudbury Star, Saturday December 14, 1996 ) Lay-offs 250 jobs now lost to provincial cuts - The Mike Harris government’s job cuts in Sudbury have surpassed the 250 mark in all ministries following the loss of 15 Ministry of Transportation jobs. There are still more cuts to come with the restructuring of the hospitals and other provincial cuts recently announced. The economic impact of lost earnings in the community is several million dollars, not including spin-off effects of the lost jobs, said Malette. The MTO cuts stem from the Conservatives’ massive budget-cutting agenda as well as its plan to have the private sector perform much of the work that has been done by ministry employees. ( The Sudbury Star, Tuesday, December 3, 1996 ) CBC to cut about 1,000 more jobs. Northern operations lose seven employees - CBC officials concede the latest round of downsizing at the public broadcaster will be a serious impact on programs, with some ‘tough choices’ still to come, but they deny it will be devastating. The positions are being cut from all services - English and French, radio and TV. The loss of four jobs at CBC Northern Ontario Radio in Sudbury in March ‘97 will affect two on-air, one newsroom and one management employee and leave them with a staff of 17. At Radio-Canada (CBON), the station’s French-language counterpart, three jobs - one on-air, one public affairs/interviewer and one communications - are being cut. ( The Sudbury Star, Thursday, December 12, 1996 ) Civil service to be cut, Eves says - Ontario Finance Minister Ernie Eves said the government plans to reduce the number of senior provincial bureaucrats by 25 per cent or 431 of 1,705 people by 2000 and may eliminate or merge some ministries in the process. Those to be eliminated include employees from the ranks of deputy ministers, assistant deputy ministers, directors, and managers. He said the government will be able to manage with few officials because of its restructuring efforts. ( The Globe and Mail, Friday, December 20, 1996 ) New Businesses French speaking health centre opens - Centre de Santé Communautaire de Sudbury, located at 19 Frood Rd. officially opens Thursday, December 5, 1996. The centre, established two years ago, has two purposes: to provide primary care, such as examinations by physicians, a nutritionist, a nurse practitionist or social worker and health education and preventative programs such as smoking cessation and pre-natal classes - all in the French language - for the Sudbury area’s 37,000 francophone population. France Gélinas, executive director of the centre, said the centre, where possible, will refer people to an existing service provided in the community. ‘We’re not here to replace the health-care system. We want to use our resources for things that don’t exist,’ she said. ( The Sudbury Star, Tuesday, December 3, 1996 ) Proposed liquor store gets blessing from Billings - Billings council has given its support and passed a motion stating they have no concerns with an LCBO agency store being opened in Kagawong. The LCBO will notify the public of its plans and a competition will be run for applicants to apply for the authorization to sell beverage alcohol products from their existing business premises. ( The Manitoulin Recorder, Wednesday, December 11,1996 ) Crematorium officially opened - Years of determination and initiative paid off for Joseph Eshkakogan in Sagamok November 22, as local aboriginal and business leaders, along with friends and family, gathered at an open house celebrating the opening of the First Nation Crematorium and Removal Service. Located on the Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation Reserve, the crematorium will service all of Manitoulin and towns along the North Shore from Elliot Lake to Sudbury. ( The Mid-North Monitor, Wednesday, November 27, 1996 ) Young entrepreneurs search for niche with new store - Thomas Hare and Nano Debassige couldn’t get a job so on October 12, 1996 the two 17 year olds from West Bay opened the TSN Go Deep Variety store. Because both are still in school, the store is only open from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays, but is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, and 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday. While still offering a fairly limited supply of articles: crafts, some clothing, pop, snacks and cigarettes, the young owners hope to increase the store’s stock as they go along. ( The Manitoulin Expositor, Wednesday, November 27, 1996 ) New fast food restaurant features Manitoulin whitefish - Young entrepreneurs, Donna and Darin Larstone have opened a new fast food restaurant, ‘Gilligan’s Fresh Manitoulin Fish’, located in the Kwik-Mart plaza on Highway 6/Centre Street in Espanola. ( The Manitoulin Expositor, Wednesday, December 4, 1996 ) On the Bright Side Manufacturer spends $1M on expansion - Perfetto Manufacturing Ltd., specializing in hydraulic cylinder and power units for the mining, forestry and industrial markets is spending up to $1 million to expand its facilities and purchase new equipment. The 10,000-foot expansion will double the size of the company’s hydraulic manufacturing operations. The company exports products to France, Peru and the United States, and ships domestically as far away as the east coast. It manufactures new and refurbished hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders, and the staff is qualified to custom-design cylinders, hydraulic power units, control boxes and unique products to meet customer requirements. The company is successful because of the service it provides customers as well as it’s commitment to its 32 employees. ( Northern Ontario Business, December 1996 ) Island spared MTO cuts - ‘There are no cuts being made in the line of maintenance or the patrol yards on the Island,’ said Martin Favel, maintenance engineer with the MTO office in Sudbury. At the ministry’s office in Toronto, Anne McLaughlin explained that, ‘the biggest municipalities, like North Bay and Sudbury, had the highest number of cuts, while the northern region had some of the lowest numbers, to try and minimize the impact on these areas.’ Between 80-100 per cent of maintenance work contracts are going to end up being privatized for both summer and winter work. ‘...but we don’t anticipate any change in the services or quality of work to be done.’ she said. ( The Manitoulin Recorder, Wednesday, December 11, 1996 ) Local economy gets $5-M boost- Three area projects share in grants and loans from Northern Ontario Heritage Fund - Cambrian College’s Northern Centre for Advanced Technology (NORCAT) gets a $2 million loan. If the centre achieves certain performance goals, the funds will not have to be repaid. Science North received a loan of $500,000 for its new motion simulator and the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory received a $1.65 million grant. Northern Development and Mines Minister Chris Hodgson was in Sudbury to hand out the funds. NORCAT works with small industry that supplies major mining companies. The centre provides unique and specialized training on new technologies. The observatory, located deep inside Inco’s Creighton Mine, is an international science research effort studying neutrinos, tiny bits of energy that may hold the key to understanding how the universe works. Science North is in the process of constructing a $2.4 million motion simulator-theatre that will provide a new dimension in both science and education for the facility. The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund has $210 million to invest in northern projects that will support three general areas: infrastructure improvements, tourism and economic development initiatives. That money will be handed out over the next four years. ( The Sudbury Star, Friday, December 13, 1996 ) Low rates expected to bear fruit in 1997 - Economists predict low interest rates will finally start to work their magic, particularly in housing, furniture and car sales. Mr. David Rosenberg, senior economist at Nesbitt Burns Inc. predicts that the unemployment rate will drop below 9 per cent next year, after staying stubbornly above that level for 74 months, the longest period since the Depression of the 1930s. He predicts it will drop to 8 per cent in 1998. ( The Globe and Mail, Tuesday December 31, 1996 ) Resale prices surged forward in November - The average price of homes sold in the Sudbury area increased in November - the first increase in eight months, the Sudbury Real Estate Board reports, at an average realized price of $110,684. That’s a five per cent increase from November 1995 said board president Giorgio Lagana. The west end and downtown areas of Sudbury were the most active for home sales, with Valley East, New Sudbury and Nickel Centre coming in , in that order. The greatest number of homes sold in the $120,000 to $149,999 price range, while the $100,000 to $119,999 price category was the second most active. (The Sudbury Star, Saturday December 14, 1996 ) Highlights from Your Local Human Resources Centre Our new Resource Centre, a self help area within our premices designed to assist all Canadians in their efforts to secure employment, will be officially opened the end of January, 1997. Did you know that the Sudbury HRC paid out approximately $ 53 million in employment insurance benefits as of December 1996 to your community? Did you know that our department has spent approximately $8 million to date on programs for youth in your community this fiscal year? ( ie. Summer Career Placement, Youth Service Canada, Youth Experience and Youth Internship ) Did you know that our department will spend approximately $850,000 on course purchases in your community this fiscal year? Did you know that our total budget for the programs to assist the unemployed woker is in excess of $13 million in your community? (ie. Targeted Wage Subsidy, Job Creation Partnerships, Self Employment Assistance, etc.) The Labour Market Information Unit welcomes all comments, suggestions and/or newsworthy items from our readers. We can be reached by fax @ 670-6727.
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