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June 19 2014

Toronto Area to Add 230,000 Jobs By 2017

"The next four years will bring 230,000 new jobs to the Greater Toronto Area, according to a new report released by BMO Economics. Employment expanded by 4% in 2013, the strongest single-year performance in 13 years, though the unemployment rate remains elevated at 8%. ""Looking ahead, employment growth is expected to pick up again,"" said Robert Kavcic, senior economist, BMO Capital Markets. ""The city will likely see roughly 230,000 jobs created by the end of 2017, pulling the unemployment rate down to 7 percent, or just slightly above pre-recession levels."" Toronto's economy stands to benefit from a weaker Canadian dollar, according to Kavcic. ""Manufacturing, which directly accounts for about 10% of employment, will get a boost, along with the tourism sector with Toronto � along with Canada as a whole � suddenly looking like an improved value for both U.S. and local tourists,"" Kavcic said. Bill Wu, BMO's regional vice president of commercial banking in GTA North, noted momentum in the GTA across its broad base of sectors, and particularly among specialized manufacturers with niche markets such as health-sciences, service-based industries and IT companies."