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Alberta’s economy will rebound in 2016 after staggering through this year, says BMO Capital Markets.

The bank said Real Gross Domestic Product growth in the province will slide from 4.4 per cent in 2014 to 0.4 per cent this year before reaching 1.9 per cent in 2016.

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The report, by BMO senior economist Robert Kavcic, said growth should bounce back next year assuming West Texas Intermediate oil prices return above $65 a barrel.

He said the energy sector directly accounts for roughly 25 per cent of Alberta GDP, seven per cent of employment and almost two thirds of private non-housing capital spending.

“The drop in prices will likely cut roughly three percentage points from provincial growth this year, largely through the capital spending channels as major producers have slashed their budgets,” said Kavcic.

The BMO report said annual employment growth in the province would dip from 2.2 per cent in 2014 to 0.6 per cent this year and 0.3 per cent in 2016. It forecast the unemployment rate to rise from 4.7 per cent in 2014 to 5.7 per cent in 2015 and 5.8 per cent in 2016.