Payroll employment, earnings and hours

The average weekly earnings of payroll employees were up 0.5% in April from March and 2.4% higher than in April 2003. Accommodation and food, other services (excluding public administration), logging and forestry, and health and social services continued to lead other industries with the strongest year-over-year growth; transport and warehousing and utilities registered small declines.

Average hours for hourly paid workers in April fell by 0.3 hours to 31.7, owing to declines in paid hours in the goods-producing sector. Hourly earnings for April increased by $0.15 (0.9%), after three months of small changes, and are now 3.8% above the April 2003 mark.

The number of payroll employees edged up in April (+26,800), following a gain of 22,100 in March. Employment growth would have been stronger, but strikes in telecommunications, casinos and universities reduced employment in April by approximately 9,000 employees.

By industry, administrative and support services (+7,700) and manufacturing (+6,100) recorded the largest gains; education (-4,800) recorded the sharpest decline.

British Columbia led all provinces in employment gains (+9,600), followed by Ontario (+7,500).

Note: Certain changes have been made to the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH). With the release of data for the January 2004 reference month, current and historical estimates are published on the basis of the 2002 version of North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS). This change affects only estimates for industry groupings within the Construction (NAICS 23) and Information and Culture (NAICS 51) industries. In addition to the switch to NAICS 2002, the definitions for the durable and non-durable goods groupings of manufacturing have been changed slightly. As per the normal SEPH annual revision cycle, historical corrections to other series are available with this release. A concordance table between the NAICS 1997 and 2002 versions is available. To enquire about the concordance table, contact Client Services (1-866-873-8788; 613-951-4090; fax: 613-951-2869; labour@statcan.gc.ca), Labour Statistics Division.

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 are offered in the monthly publication Employment, Earnings and Hours (72-002-XIB, $26/$257), which will be available soon.

Data on payroll employment, earnings and hours for May 2004 will be released July 28.

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.