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Tuesday, December 23, 2003

Payroll employment, earnings and hours

October 2003 (preliminary)

The average weekly earnings of payroll employees increased slightly in October (+$2.03) to stand at $694.14.

The new level is 1.2% higher than October a year earlier. Stronger year-over-year growth in earnings occurred in public administration (+3.1%) and retail trade (+2.7%). Year-over-year declines were recorded in arts, entertainment and recreation (-3.4%), transport and warehousing (-1.7%) and information and culture (-1.2%).

Average hourly earnings for hourly-paid employees rose in October (+0.5%). Average paid hours for hourly employees declined slightly (-0.2 hours) in October to 32.1 hours per week. Hourly rates have increased 2.0% over twelve months, with earnings of workers in goods-producing sectors (+3.5%) outpacing those of employees in services (+1.5%).

The number of payroll employees for October increased sharply (+69,300), offsetting declines in August (-28,900) and September (-25,400). Gains in October were strongest in Ontario (+18,200), British Columbia (+13,000), Quebec (+11,400) and Alberta (+8,800).

By industry, employment gains were widespread with substantial gains in retail trade (+18,700), accommodation and food (+9,200), wholesale trade (+6,700), administrative and support, waste management and remediation services (+6,500), other services (+6,100) and manufacturing (+5,200).

Available on CANSIM: tables 281-0023 to 281-0046.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2612.

Detailed industry data, data by size of enterprise based on employment, and other labour market indicators will be available soon in the monthly publication Employment, Earnings and Hours (72-002-XIB, $26/$257).

For general information or to order data, contact Client Services (1-866-873-8788; 613-951-4090; fax: 613-951-2869; labour@statcan.gc.ca). To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Robert Frindt (613-951-4069), Labour Statistics Division.

Average weekly earnings for all employees
Industry group (North American Industry Classification System) October 2002 September 2003r October 2003p September to October 2003 October 2002 to October 2003
  seasonally adjusted
  $ % change
Industrial aggregate 685.83 692.11 694.14 0.3 1.2
Forestry, logging and support 850.95 868.25 881.68 1.5 3.6
Mining and oil and gas 1,173.46 1,196.03 1,186.26 -0.8 1.1
Utilities 1,064.61 1,061.30 1,086.94 2.4 2.1
Construction 802.61 827.42 853.95 3.2 6.4
Manufacturing 837.33 840.42 844.66 0.5 0.9
Wholesale trade 784.28 791.44 797.67 0.8 1.7
Retail trade 436.89 446.79 448.85 0.5 2.7
Transportation and warehousing 769.99 758.24 757.04 -0.2 -1.7
Information and cultural industries 820.51 806.75 810.93 0.5 -1.2
Finance and insurance 861.74 870.16 875.10 0.6 1.6
Real estate and rental and leasing 604.96 603.85 619.02 2.5 2.3
Professional, scientific and technical services 906.31 913.07 916.84 0.4 1.2
Management of companies and enterprises 848.09 856.60 873.94 2.0 3.0
Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services 538.06 538.70 543.97 1.0 1.1
Educational Services 746.44 765.47 742.38 -3.0 -0.5
Health care and social assistance 610.12 618.50 615.85 -0.4 0.9
Arts, entertainment and recreation 432.25 409.40 417.59 2.0 -3.4
Accommodation and food services 287.44 279.88 284.77 1.7 -0.9
Other services (excluding public administration) 526.15 527.76 534.37 1.3 1.6
Public administration 842.62 863.26 868.55 0.6 3.1
Provinces and territories          
Newfoundland and Labrador 625.68 627.16 621.56 -0.9 -0.7
Prince Edward Island 545.34 549.69 551.06 0.2 1.0
Nova Scotia 593.94 600.68 600.36 -0.1 1.1
New Brunswick 616.78 631.28 631.97 0.1 2.5
Quebec 650.66 656.42 664.68 1.3 2.2
Ontario 731.81 732.74 737.13 0.6 0.7
Manitoba 609.11 625.78 619.46 -1.0 1.7
Saskatchewan 614.11 635.45 625.92 -1.5 1.9
Alberta 701.40 716.32 715.58 -0.1 2.0
British Columbia 678.15 685.20 684.59 -0.1 0.9
Yukon 759.31 779.56 753.24 -3.4 -0.8
Northwest Territories1 894.89 902.86 896.25 -0.7 0.2
Nunavut1 799.42 798.67 812.46 1.7 1.6
rRevised estimates.
pPreliminary estimates.
1Data not seasonally adjusted.

Number of employees
Industry group (North American Industry Classification System) August 2003 September 2003r October 2003p August to September 2003 September to October 2003
  seasonally adjusted
  '000 % change
Industrial aggregate 13,314.0 13,288.6 13,357.9 -0.2 0.5
Forestry, logging and support 54.2 53.8 53.4 -0.7 -0.7
Mining and oil and gas 151.6 154.2 155.9 1.7 1.1
Utilities 115.6 115.4 115.0 -0.2 -0.3
Construction 651.0 648.2 652.9 -0.4 0.7
Manufacturing 2,033.5 2,023.8 2,029.0 -0.5 0.3
Wholesale trade 751.4 751.8 758.5 0.1 0.9
Retail trade 1,593.1 1,586.8 1,605.5 -0.4 1.2
Transportation and warehousing 608.7 605.1 601.9 -0.6 -0.5
Information and cultural industries 351.8 354.4 353.3 0.7 -0.3
Finance and insurance 573.9 571.6 571.8 -0.4 0.0
Real estate and rental and leasing 225.7 227.4 231.5 0.8 1.8
Professional, scientific and technical services 650.1 652.9 658.1 0.4 0.8
Management of companies and enterprises 90.8 90.2 90.4 -0.7 0.2
Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services 602.9 607.0 613.5 0.7 1.1
Educational Services 929.3 932.6 933.2 0.4 0.1
Health care and social assistance 1,371.5 1,369.8 1,373.8 -0.1 0.3
Arts, entertainment and recreation 247.1 244.2 241.7 -1.2 -1.0
Accommodation and food services 927.7 926.2 935.4 -0.2 1.0
Other services (excluding public administration) 498.8 498.5 504.6 -0.1 1.2
Public administration 777.0 773.4 767.7 -0.5 -0.7
Provinces and territories          
Newfoundland and Labrador 188.3 186.9 186.8 -0.7 -0.1
Prince Edward Island 66.4 64.8 63.7 -2.4 -1.7
Nova Scotia 387.8 383.9 383.8 -1.0 0.0
New Brunswick 307.2 304.2 304.8 -1.0 0.2
Quebec 3,140.1 3,158.1 3,169.5 0.6 0.4
Ontario 5,162.4 5,158.5 5,176.7 -0.1 0.4
Manitoba 528.9 523.9 526.2 -0.9 0.4
Saskatchewan 394.4 393.6 395.8 -0.2 0.6
Alberta 1,457.5 1,454.2 1,463.0 -0.2 0.6
British Columbia 1,636.4 1,625.8 1,638.8 -0.6 0.8
Yukon 16.2 16.0 15.6 -1.2 -2.5
Northwest Territories1 23.1 22.4 22.3 -3.0 -0.4
Nunavut1 11.2 11.3 11.5 0.9 1.8
rRevised estimates.
pPreliminary estimates.
1Data not seasonally adjusted.



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