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ATB set to release economic outlook for Alberta this morning

ATB Financial is expected to forecast more bleak news for Alberta’s weakening economy this morning, when it releases its second-quarter report this morning.

The specifics are under embargo — but the broad strokes are expected to continue to tell the story that has become all too familiar to Albertans.

That will include the prediction that the province’s unemployment rate is expected to increase while the construction and real estate sectors will fall.

- VIDEO: Alberta economy: how will the average Albertan be affected?

Todd Hirsch, chief economist for ATB Financial says that Alberta has finally hit a roadblock after driving the country’s economy for the past four years.

“In some ways it’s been a fool's paradise. People tend to forget we've come off five years of extraordinarily strong GDP growth,” said Hirsch. “Any other province in the country would love one year of growth that good."

Hirsch says the price of West Texas Intermediate will remain volatile for the next couple of months -- before it settles out.