2020 on P.E.I.: It could have been worse

The Prince Edward Island economy certainly suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, but the province's Statistical Review for the year, released Tuesday, suggests it could have been worse.

GDP fell by three per cent in the province. The current projection for Canada as a whole is 5.4 per cent.

The number of jobs fell 3.6 per cent. Nationally it decreased by 5.2 per cent.

Despite the drop in the number of people working on P.E.I., total labour income rose 1.9 per cent to $3.8 billion. While making more money is a good thing, the increase in income while the number of people working fell suggests that people in low-wage jobs suffered disproportionately.

The people who were able to keep their jobs during the pandemic tended to have more education.

The percentage of people with a university degree holding jobs rose from 18.2per cent to 20.8 per cent. For those with a high school diploma only or who left school before finishing high school, it fell from 19.5per cent to 16.9per cent.

While P.E.I. was outperforming the country economically there was no great rush to move to the Island. In fact, overall P.E.I. lost 462 residents to interprovincial migration.

While there was a net loss, there was also a sharp regional split. P.E.I. gained residents from the prairies, in particular Alberta, but lost them to other provinces, with the exception of Newfoundland and Labrador.

More from CBC P.E.I.