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Payroll employment, earnings and hours, April 2016

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Released: 2016-06-30

Average weekly earnings — Canada

$955.67

April 2016

0.2% 

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — N.L.

$1,007.07

April 2016

-1.4% 

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — P.E.I.

$809.17

April 2016

0.6% 

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — N.S.

$856.84

April 2016

2.2% 

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — N.B.

$874.70

April 2016

2.6% 

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — Que.

$876.35

April 2016

-1.4% 

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — Ont.

$968.05

April 2016

0.5% 

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — Man.

$887.55

April 2016

2.9% 

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — Sask.

$983.23

April 2016

1.2% 

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — Alta.

$1,126.62

April 2016

-2.4% 

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — B.C.

$922.85

April 2016

2.2% 

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — Y.T.

$1,025.92

April 2016

-2.0% 

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — N.W.T.

$1,455.94

April 2016

1.6% 

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — Nvt.

$1,288.47

April 2016

3.5% 

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $956 in April, little changed from the previous month (-0.3%) and from 12 months earlier (+0.2%).

Chart 1  Chart 1: Year-over-year change in average weekly earnings and average weekly hours
Year-over-year change in average weekly earnings and average weekly hours

The change in weekly earnings reflects a number of factors, including wage growth, changes in the composition of employment by industry, occupation, and level of job experience, as well as average hours worked per week.

Non-farm payroll employees worked an average of 32.9 hours per week in April, unchanged from the previous month, and down from an average of 33.1 hours in April 2015.

Average weekly earnings by sector

In the 12 months to April, average weekly earnings increased in 3 of the 10 largest industrial sectors: administrative and support services, retail trade, and educational services. Over the same period, earnings declined in manufacturing and public administration. Earnings were little changed in the other sectors.

Chart 2  Chart 2: Year-over-year change in average weekly earnings in the 10 largest sectors, April 2016
Year-over-year change in average weekly earnings in the 10 largest sectors, April 2016

Average weekly earnings in administrative and support services increased 4.8% to $799 in the 12 months to April. Earnings in this sector have been on an upward trend since the fall of 2014, with sustained growth in employment services, such as agencies referring and placing applicants in employment.

Earnings in retail trade rose 3.3% to $567 in the 12 months to April, driven by gains in general merchandise stores, motor vehicle and parts dealers, as well as clothing and clothing accessories stores.

Year over year, average weekly earnings in educational services were up 2.5% to $1,002, in part because earnings in the sector were relatively low in April 2015. The largest gains occurred in community colleges and CEGEPs, as well as elementary and secondary schools.

Compared with a recent high in April 2015, earnings in manufacturing declined 3.2% to $1,080 in April. Losses were spread across most subsectors, with notable declines in transportation equipment manufacturing and chemical manufacturing.

Earnings in public administration were down 1.0% to $1,214, and the decreases were spread across most subsectors.

Average weekly earnings by province

Year over year, average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees increased in five provinces in April, led by Manitoba and New Brunswick. Over the same period, earnings declined in Alberta, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador, while they were little changed in the other provinces.

Chart 3  Chart 3: Year-over-year change in average weekly earnings by province, April 2016
Year-over-year change in average weekly earnings by province, April 2016

In Manitoba, earnings were up 2.9% to $888 in the 12 months to April. Gains were widespread, with educational services and retail trade contributing the most to the increase. Part of the year-over-year rise was due to earnings in the province being compared with a recent low in April 2015.

Earnings in New Brunswick rose 2.6% to $875 in April, with the real estate and rental and leasing sector recording the largest increase. Health care and social assistance and retail trade—the two largest sectors in the province—also contributed to the earnings growth.

Average weekly earnings in Nova Scotia were up 2.2% to $857, led by educational services.

In British Columbia, earnings rose 2.2% to $923, with gains spread across most sectors. Earnings in the province have increased since the start of 2016.

Year over year, earnings in Saskatchewan were up 1.2% to $983, led by administrative and support services, wholesale trade, and retail trade.

Earnings in Alberta decreased 2.4% to $1,127 in April, continuing a trend of year-over-year declines that began in the summer of 2015. On a year-over-year basis, losses were widespread, with both earnings and payroll employment falling notably in several high-paying sectors: professional, scientific and technical services; manufacturing; and transportation and warehousing.

In Quebec, earnings declined 1.4% to $876, partly due to the fact that earnings in the province were relatively high in April 2015. Year over year, losses were spread across several sectors and were most notable in manufacturing.

In the 12 months to April, earnings in Newfoundland and Labrador fell 1.4% to $1,007, with notable losses in educational services.

Non-farm payroll employment by sector

The number of non-farm payroll jobs increased by 18,300 (+0.1%) in April, following a rise of 25,700 in March. Gains in construction, transportation and warehousing, and educational services were mostly offset by losses in wholesale trade, real estate and rental and leasing, and information and cultural industries.

Compared with 12 months earlier, the number of non-farm payroll employees increased by 138,600 or 0.9%. Payroll jobs rose the most in health care and social assistance (+54,300 or +3.0%), accommodation and food services (+35,300 or +2.9%), arts, entertainment and recreation (+20,300 or +7.7%), and educational services (+15,300 or +1.2%).

Over the same period, there were fewer payroll jobs in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (-25,500 or -11.7%), manufacturing (-19,100 or -1.3%), "other services" (-13,000 or -2.4%), and wholesale trade (-11,700 or -1.5%).



  Note to readers

The Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH) is produced by a combination of a census of approximately one million payroll deductions provided by the Canada Revenue Agency, and the Business Payrolls Survey, which collects data from a sample of 15,000 establishments. The key objective of the SEPH is to provide a monthly portrait of the level of earnings and the number of jobs and hours worked by detailed industry at the national, provincial and territorial levels.

Estimates of average weekly earnings and hours worked are based on a sample and are therefore subject to sampling variability. This analysis focuses on differences between estimates that are statistically significant at the 68% confidence level. Payroll employment estimates are based on a census of administrative data and are not subject to sampling variability.

Statistics Canada also produces employment estimates from its Labour Force Survey (LFS). The LFS is a monthly household survey, the main objective of which is to divide the working-age population into three mutually exclusive groups: the employed (including the self-employed), the unemployed and those not in the labour force. This survey is the official source for the unemployment rate and collects data on the socio-demographic characteristics of all those in the labour market.

As a result of conceptual and methodological differences, estimates of changes from SEPH and LFS do differ from time to time. However, the trends in the data are quite similar. To better understand the conceptual differences between employment measures from the LFS and SEPH, refer to section 8 of the Guide to the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (Catalogue number72-203-G).

Unless otherwise stated, this release presents seasonally adjusted data, which facilitate comparisons by removing the effects of seasonal variations. For more information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.

Non-farm payroll employment data are for all hourly and salaried employees, as well as for the "other employees" category, which includes piece-rate and commission-only employees.

Average weekly hours data are for hourly and salaried employees only and exclude businesses that could not be classified to a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code.

All earnings data include overtime pay and exclude businesses that could not be classified to a NAICS code. Earnings data are based on gross taxable payroll before source deductions. Average weekly earnings are derived by dividing total weekly earnings by the number of employees.

With each release, data for the current reference month are subject to revision. Data have been revised for the previous month. Users are encouraged to request and use the most up-to-date data for each month.

Real-time CANSIM tables

Real-time CANSIM tables 281-8023, 281-8026, 281-8047 and 281-8063 will be updated on July 15. For more information, consult the document Real-time CANSIM tables.

Next release

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

Products

A summary table is available from the Browse by key resource module of our website. Under Summary tables, choose Subject then Labour.

Job Vacancy Statistics (5202) from the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours for March are now available in CANSIM.

More information about the concepts and use of the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours is available online in the Guide to the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (Catalogue number72-203-G), from the Browse by key resource module of our website, under Publications.

Information about Job Vacancy Statistics concepts are now available online in the Guide to the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (Catalogue number72-203-G). The separate Guide to Job Vacancy Statistics (Catalogue number72-210-G) will be discontinued.

Contact information

For more information, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca).

To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Andrew Fields (613-951-3551; andrew.fields@canada.ca), Labour Statistics Division.

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