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Winnipeg’s real gross domestic product (GDP) came in at an estimated 3.9 per cent in 2007 and is expected to moderate very slightly to 3.4 per cent in 2008. Retail sales increased by 8.0 per cent in 2007. Manufacturing output expanded 4.9 per cent, the fastest in seven years. Manufacturing employment will stablize near 48,000 workers in 2008, after spiking by 2,600 workers in 2007, the largest absolute jump since 1997. Wholesale and retail trade output will expand by a moderate but still healthy 5.3 per cent this year. Winnipeg’s construction sector posted 4.9 per cent output growth in 2007, well below the 14.3 per cent 2006 reading, but still above the prior decade’s 3.6 per cent average increase. Since little let-up is expected in 2008, construction output will advance a further 4.8 per cent. Winnipeg’s population rose 0.7 per cent in 2007, the fastest growth in three years. Resulting housing demand prompted builders to start roughly 3,400 dwellings in 2007. Starts will dip to a still-good volume near 3,000 units in 2008 and average 2,900 units between 2009 and 2012. Construction employment rose 11.4 per cent to a record-high 20,000 in 2007. With residential, commercial, and infrastructure construction expected to remain solid in 2008, job counts will rise a further 9.4 per cent. 

The Conference Board of Canada projects Winnipeg’s GDP in 2008 to accumulate $25.6 billion (2002$) worth of goods and services. The unemployment rate is expected to come in at 4.3 per cent. 

Continued population growth will support medium-term economic activity, as real GDP and employment are forecast to average 2.8 per cent and 1.3 per cent growth per year, respectively from 2008 to 2012. 

Source: Conference Board of Canada, Metropolitan Outlook Spring 2008