Good and bad news from Conference Board of Canada

The Conference Board of Canada Gave Nunavut a range of grades this year related to its evolving economy. (GRAPHIC COURTESY CONFERENCE BOARD OF CANADA)

The Conference Board of Canada doled out three A+ grades to Nunavut in its most recent economic report card — but Nunavut also received a D for unemployment.

Nunavut gets the three A+ grades in gross domestic product growth, labour productivity growth, and employment growth.

Nunavut’s employment grew by 6.9 per cent in 2013 — a big step up from 2012, when “almost no growth” was reported.

But the overall unemployment rate remains high: in 2013, it stood at 13.5 per cent.

That’s higher than all other provinces and territories — the closest being Prince Edward Island at 11.5 per cent.

The board blames the unemployment rate on southern workers who fly up to work in Nunavut, but don’t take residency in the territory.

Nunavut also scored a C in income per capita, even though its per capita income has now surpassed the Canadian average for four years in a row.

Overall, Canada ranks a B grade for its economy, below the United States and Norway but above Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

But the three Canadian territories aren’t included in the Conference Board’s overall provincial and international outlook. That’s because there’s not enough data available to judge them on all the categories.

To read the whole report, click here.