Fourth quarter stats are out for South Grey, Bruce and part of Wellington County and they reflect the slide in the Ontario economy.
Saugeen Economic Development Officer Bill Lang says as expected the number of manufacturing jobs in the Saugeen economy slumped about 11 percent from the level of a year ago.
Lang says most of those job losses come from the closure of Durham Furniture at Chesley earlier in the year.
Meanwhile, real estate sales in south Grey, Bruce and part of Wellington County show a drop of nearly 43 percent in value during the fourth quarter compared to a year earlier.
However, Lang says the average selling price for 2008 was still up slightly at nearly 203 thousand dollars.
And, although there was a drop in real estate sales, the total in 2008 is on par with the level in the year 2000 and not far behind 2001.
A surprising stat from the Saugeen economy showed a small increase in the caseload for Social Assistance, only up 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008.
