iN NUMBERS: British Columbians making tough financial choices

From artificial intelligence to the Trump trade war, there are a lot of things driving economic uncertainty for British Columbians lately. Financial consulting firm MNP released the results of its quarterly survey to see how folks are feeling these days and to no great surprise a lot of people are struggling.

Here are the numbers:

• 18: Per cent of British Columbians said their debt situation is terrible.
• 37: Per cent said their debt situation is excellent.
• 45: Per cent of British Columbians are worried that AI could negatively affect their job.
• 816: Dollars a month is how much an average British Columbian has left over after their monthly expenses, down from $891.
• 200: Dollars in unexpected costs would leave 44 per cent of British Columbians unable to pay their bills that month.
• 51: Per cent of British Columbians have to grocery shop strategically like buying in bulk and having a meal plan.
• 27: Per cent of people in B.C. said they are eating less to make ends meet.
• 30: Per cent said they plan to reduce utility consumption over the next year to save money.
• 48: Per cent of British Columbians have less than six months of emergency savings.
• 2.5: Per cent is the current Bank of Canada overnight interest rate, but 60 per cent of British Columbians said they desperately need the rate to go down.