Payroll employment, earnings and hours

The average weekly earnings of payroll employees for May 2004 were 2.1% higher than in May 2003.

Mining and oil and gas; education services; and health care and social assistance services continued to lead other industries with the strongest growth in the past 12 months, while arts, entertainment and recreation; transport and warehousing; and utilities registered small declines.

Average hours for hourly paid workers declined slightly from April to May (-0.1 hour) to 31.5. Gains in hours in the goods-producing sector were offset by reductions in the services-producing sector. Hourly earnings for May decreased by $0.05 (-0.3%) after a substantial increase in April (+0.7%).

The number of payroll employees decreased slightly in May (-8,000), following a gain of 22,100 in March and 18,700 in April. By industry, manufacturing fell by 7,300 while finance and insurance fell 3,300. Employment losses were concentrated in Ontario (-15,300) and Quebec (-4,500).

Note: Certain changes have been made to the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours. 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, there is a slight change to the definitions for the durable and non-durable goods groupings of manufacturing. 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 soon be available.

Data on payroll employment, earnings and hours for June 2004 will be released August 26.

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.