Whilst the whole World seems to continue on a downward spiral of economic misery there is a small part of the World where growth is the name of the game and this place is Alberta...
...With a growth rate this year expected to be at least 3.5% its population too is on the increase with people flocking from across the country and increasingly from oversees to fill an ever number of growing job vacancies.
Whilst in Spain and the UK the unemployment rate hovers the 25% and 8% mark respectively, here in Alberta they boast the opposite 'problem'. It's hard to imagine this being referred to as a problem but truly it seems - it is. Alberta currently has more than 63,000 vacancies which is a 3.4% vacancy rate! So where are these jobs materialising from?
On the most part, the answer is oil. And just like the jobs, there's lots of it with Alberta having one of the largest reserves of oil in the World, third only to Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
But whilst all these jobs exist, people aren't filling them fast enough and trying to increase the appeal of Alberta, companies across the board are ramping up their wages to lure people here. So whilst the minimum wage is set at $10.25 (£6.54), the average hourly wage is in fact $27.52 (£17.58), up $1.44 (£0.92) in the last year alone. This though is just the average and it is well known that any young man straight from school or college can land a job in the oil fields in northern Alberta making upwards of $80,000 (£51,115) a year.
Oh, and if that wasn't enough, there's also the insanely low sales tax rate (VAT equivalent) which is just 5.0% (Vs. 20% in the UK).
Low tax, a surplus of incredibly well paid jobs and a stunning natural environment. Welcome to Alberta.