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Tuesday, August 25, 1998
For release at 8:30 a.m.
Summer 1998
One out of 20 employees worked for minimum wage or less in the first quarter of 1998, according to new data from the Labour Force Survey. Newfoundland had the largest proportion (9.1%) of people working for minimum wage, while Alberta, which had the lowest minimum wage, had the smallest proportion (2.6%).
Approximately 545,000 employees, or 4.8% of the total, worked for minimum wage or less. Current minimum wages range from a low of $5 an hour in Alberta to a high of $7.15 in British Columbia. Most provinces have a minimum wage between $5 and $6.
Almost 1 in 10 employees (9.1%) in Newfoundland, which had the second lowest minimum wage, worked for minimum wage or less during the first quarter of 1998. In contrast, only 2.6% of all employees in Alberta did so. Ontario (4.9%) and Quebec (5.2%) were close to the national average.
Chart: Provinces with high unemployment
rates tend...
Provinces with high unemployment rates tended to have a greater percentage of minimum wage workers. Newfoundland's unemployment rate of 18.9% in the first quarter was more than three times that of Alberta's (5.9%). In effect, workers in Alberta have greater bargaining power, due to more work opportunities.
Overall, there were more young people, more women, more students and more part-time workers among minimum wage workers. These individuals were concentrated primarily in the restaurant and retail trade industries.
This release is based on a comprehensive study of hourly and weekly wages earned by employees published in the Summer 1998 issue of Labour force update, released today.
Using new data from the monthly Labour Force Survey, this publication provides current information on employee average wages and wage distributions. One section sheds light on what determines employees' earnings while another addresses the question, "Are we creating good jobs?" Provincial and regional wage rates are also examined.
The final chapter profiles workers making the general minimum wage or less, termed "minimum wage workers".
More than half (58% or 316,000) of minimum wage workers were youths aged 15 to 24 - the majority of whom attended school full time. Those not in school may have lacked job experience or education to earn higher wages. Others may have continued in the same job that they had in school, while waiting to find longer-term employment related to their field of study. A further quarter (138,000) of minimum wage workers were adult women 25 to 54 years old.
Minimum wage workers were three times more likely than other employees to work part time. Six out of every 10 (62%) of those earning minimum wage or less had a part-time job.
Looking at minimum wage workers from a family perspective adds further insight. As one might expect given the large number of youths among minimum wage workers, about half (286,000) of minimum wage workers lived with their parents. Another 31% (168,000) were married or had a spouse. For the majority of these workers, the spouse earned more than the minimum wage. However, 14% (76,000) of minimum wage workers were the sole adult providers in the family, either because they had no spouse or because their spouse was not working.
Workers receiving minimum wage tended to concentrate in certain industries. The restaurant industry and retail trade accounted for the majority (55%) of workers receiving minimum wage or less. In contrast, these workers comprised only 18% of the overall workforce. These two industries often employ youths and have low levels of unionization and high employee turnover.
Aside from determining the number of minimum wage workers, the new Labour Force Survey wage data also allows a better estimate of job quality. Employment has increased by over 500,000 jobs since the beginning of 1997, causing the unemployment rate to drop by more than a percentage point. Almost all of this net increase in jobs came in the form of full-time work for employees (in contrast to earlier in the 1990s, when self-employment was the driving force behind job growth).
Job growth, for the most part, has occurred in industries and occupations that tend to pay higher-than-average weekly wages, while the major employment losses tended to be concentrated in low-paying industries and occupations. For example, manufacturing firms have hired full-time blue-collar and professional workers - employees who have a higher than average wage. Meanwhile, the largest drop in employment was among part-time sales people in retail and wholesale trade, which are typically low-paying jobs.
Employees earned an average of $15.77 per hour before taxes and other deductions im May, 1% higher than May 1997 and almost keeping pace with inflation (+1.1%, as measured by the Consumer Price Index). Employees were paid an average of $583 per week, 1.5% higher than in May 1997. Since the increase in average hourly pay did not exceed the pace of inflation, all of the increase in real weekly wages (i.e., weekly wages adjusted for changes in inflation) over the last year can be attributed to rising work hours.
On average, female employees earned $13.93 an hour in 1997, or 81 cents for every dollar earned in an hour by men ($17.10).
Education had a bigger impact on the earnings of female employees than it did on male workers. As a result, women with graduate degrees made 85 cents for every dollar earned by men with the same level of education, compared with 71 cents for the least educated. For both men and women, the average master's or Ph.D. graduate made almost $25 an hour, twice that of people with less than eight years of education ($12).
The average wage of an employee covered by a union contract or a collective agreement was about $19 an hour in 1997, 32% higher than the average of those without coverage. Much, but not all, of this gap can be attributed to the tendency of unionized workers to have characteristics which, on their own, lead to higher wages.
Wages are far from evenly distributed. The lowest-paid 25% of employees made only 8% of total wages in 1997. In contrast, the top 25% of earners made 45% of all wages paid out.
For further information, consult the latest Labour force update (71-005-XPB, $29/$96), which is now available. To order the publication, contact the Statistics Canada Regional Reference Centre nearest to you or via the Internet @ order@statcan.gc.ca. For more information about the product, contact Nathalie Caron at (613-951-4168).
For further information on this release, contact Geoff Bowlby (613-951-3325; fax: 613-951-2869; bowlgeo@statcan.gc.ca ), Labour Force Survey.
Table: General minimum wage by province
______________________________________________________________________________
Province Minimum wage Date
______________________________________________________________________________
$
Newfoundland
5.00 September 1,
5.25 April 1, 1997
Prince Edward Island
5.15 September 1,
5.40 September 1,
1997
Nova Scotia
5.35 October 1,
5.50 February 1,
1997
New Brunswick 5.50 July 1, 1996
Québec
6.70 October 1,
6.80 October 1,
1997
Ontario
6.85 January 1,
Manitoba
5.40 January 1,
Saskatchewan
5.60 December 1,
Alberta 5.00 April 1, 1992
British Columbia
7.00 October 1,
7.15 April 1, 1998
______________________________________________________________________________
Province
______________________________________________________________________________
Newfoundland
Prince Edward Island
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
Québec
Ontario
Manitoba
Saskatchewan
Alberta
British Columbia
______________________________________________________________________________
Source: Provincial ministries of labour
Table: Top occupation/industry employment gainers and losers, first quarter
1997 to first quarter 1998
______________________________________________________________________________
Change in Change in Average
employment employment weekly wage
Q1 1997 to Q1 1997 to in 1997
Q1 1998 Q2 1998
______________________________________________________________________________
number % $
Employees in all
occupation/industry
groups 387,100 3.5 574
Top gainers:
Full-time product
fabricators in
manufacturing 49,500 8.6 588
Full-time service
workers in
accommodation and
food 33,100 11.5 339
Full-time managers in
retail and wholesale
trade 30,600 10.9 721
Full-time
transportation
equipment operators
in TCOU(1) 25,400 11.9 678
Full-time machinists
in manufacturing 24,700 16.8 646
Full-time managers in
business services 24,300 18.1 869
Part-time service
workers in
accommodation and
food 19,300 6.7 127
Full-time managers in
TCOU(1) 18,800 17.7 965
Full-time natural
science workers in
manufacturing 18,300 15.4 899
Full-time clerical
workers in
manufacturing 17,400 10.7 550
Top losers:
Part-time salespeople
in retail and
wholesale trade -21,200 -7.8 139
Full-time service
workers in
educational services -16,100 -26.4 542
Part-time medical
workers in health
and social services -15,900 -8.5 361
Full-time other
craftspeople in
manufacturing -10,800 -13.5 620
Part-time clerical
workers in finance,
insurance and real
estate -10,100 -15.8 216
Part-time clerical
workers in retail
and wholesale trade -9,900 -5.8 154
Part-time material
handlers in retail
and wholesale trade -8,400 -14.5 129
______________________________________________________________________________
Difference
in average
wage from
overall
average
______________________________________________________________________________
$
Employees in all
occupation/industry
groups --
Top gainers:
Full-time product
fabricators in
manufacturing 14
Full-time service
workers in
accommodation and
food -235
Full-time managers in
retail and wholesale
trade 147
Full-time
transportation
equipment operators
in TCOU(1) 104
Full-time machinists
in manufacturing 72
Full-time managers in
business services 295
Part-time service
workers in
accommodation and
food -447
Full-time managers in
TCOU(1) 391
Full-time natural
science workers in
manufacturing 325
Full-time clerical
workers in
manufacturing -24
Top losers:
Part-time salespeople
in retail and
wholesale trade -435
Full-time service
workers in
educational services -32
Part-time medical
workers in health
and social services -213
Full-time other
craftspeople in
manufacturing 46
Part-time clerical
workers in finance,
insurance and real
estate -358
Part-time clerical
workers in retail
and wholesale trade -420
Part-time material
handlers in retail
and wholesale trade -445
______________________________________________________________________________
(Note:) To be considered a gainer or a loser, the percentage change in
employment in these groups needed to exceed the sample error.
(1) TCOU: Transportation, communications and other utilities.
(-) Not applicable.
May and June 1998
Total sales increased substantially for a group of large retailers in both May and June compared with the same period a year earlier. Sales reached $5.8 billion in May, up 10.0% from the same month in 1997. This compares with a 4.3% year-over-year increase for total retail trade excluding motor and recreational vehicle dealers. (All data in this report are unadjusted for seasonality).
June sales ($5.4 billion) for this group of large retailers were 6.8% or $347 million higher than in June of last year. This compares with a 3.9% increase for total retail trade, excluding motor and recreational vehicle dealers.
This year's early spring contributed to the 10.0% increase in May. As in April, large retailers benefitted from strong sales in lawn and garden related products. Consumers spent 62.8% more on lawn and garden supplies compared with May 1997.
The early spring was also significant in boosting sales of sporting goods, which rose 29.3% over May 1997. More than half of this increase was due to a 50.9% rise in the sale of hunting, fishing and camping equipment. Sales of golf equipment and accessories were up 44.5% from last May, while sales of bicycles and biking accessories increased 19.3%.
Clothing purchases were 14.0% higher compared with May 1997. Women's clothing represented about 60% of the total amount spent on clothing at large retailers, while men's clothing accounted for almost 28%. Sales of footwear advanced 17.1%, while jewellery sales rose 10.5%.
Food and beverage commodities accounted for 36.4% of the total sold by the large retailers - the largest share of all commodities. However, food and beverage sales increased only 5.1% over the same month last year. The most notable increases occurred in fresh produce (+12.1%) and fresh fish and seafood (+12.0%) sales.
Table: Sales by commodity for the group of large retailers
May 1998
______________________________________________________________________________
May 1997 May 1998
______________________________________________________________________________
$ 000,000 % change
______________________________ _____________
Commodities
Food and beverages 2,023 2,126 5.1
Health and personal
care products 364 387 6.4
Housewares 221 252 14.1
Footwear, clothing and
accessories 1,035 1,182 14.1
Home furnishings and
electronics 625 641 2.5
Hardware and lawn and
garden products 275 407 48.0
Sporting and leisure
goods 218 251 15.1
All other goods and
services 545 590 8.2
Total 5,307 5,835 10.0
______________________________________________________________________________
In contrast to the large gains in April and May, lawn and garden product sales slipped 10.7% compared with the same month last year. Sporting and leisure goods (+3.9%) and footwear, clothing and accessories (+1.8%) posted smaller gains - in sharp contrast to double-digit, year-over-year increases in April and May.
The Monthly Survey of Large Retailers provides a breakdown of sales on the basis of commodities at the national level for a group of about 80 large retailers, who were included in the survey based on their sales and retail sector.
The survey includes large retailers - mainly in the food, clothing, home furnishings, electronics, sporting goods, and general merchandise sectors. Sales data for more than 100 commodities are available, on a monthly basis, split wherever possible, by three types of retailer - food stores, department stores and other.
Data goes back to January 1997 and is available from the Distributive Trades Division. A list of retail companies surveyed is also available.
Data have not been adjusted for seasonality, or changes due to differences in the number or significance of shopping days contained in the various months of the year. For example, the number of Saturdays (normally a heavy shopping day) may differ from month-to-month or year-over-year.
Monthly retail trade data will continue to be released in The Daily as scheduled. In addition, The Daily will still contain a monthly release on department store sales, but it will provide only provincial sales data and seasonally adjusted Canada sales.
The biggest contributors to June's year-over-year sales increase for the large retailers were food and beverage products, home furnishings and electronic products, and health and personal care products. Sales of food and beverages were up 7.9%. Purchases of home furnishings and electronics rose 13.9%, while sales of health and personal care products increased 14.4%.
Table: Sales by commodity for the group of large retailers
June 1998
______________________________________________________________________________
June 1997 June 1998
______________________________________________________________________________
$ 000,000 % change
______________________________ _____________
Commodities
Food and beverages 1,818 1,962 7.9
Health and personal
care products 315 364 15.8
Housewares 208 242 16.4
Footwear, clothing and
accessories 1,050 1,068 1.8
Home furnishings and
electronics 604 687 13.9
Hardware and lawn and
garden products 311 296 -5.0
Sporting and leisure
goods 242 251 3.9
All other goods and
services 538 561 4.3
Total 5,085 5,432 6.8
______________________________________________________________________________
For further information on this release or for the list of the retailers included in the survey, contact Janet Sear, (613-951-5580), Retail Commodity Section, Distributive Trades Division.
June 1998 (preliminary)
The estimated number of Canadians who received regular Employment Insurance benefits in June increased 2.2% to 555,360. Eight provinces and the Northwest Territories recorded monthly increases, which were partly offset by declines in Newfoundland (-3.3%), Yukon (-3.2%) and British Columbia (-0.6%).
Regular benefit payments declined slightly (-2.0%) in June to $662.6 million. This was the fourth consecutive monthly decline. A total of six provinces and the Northwest Territories recorded declines.
Table: Number of beneficiaries receiving regular benefits
______________________________________________________________________________
June 1998 May 1998 to
June 1998
______________________________________________________________________________
seasonally adjusted
______________________________
% change
Canada 555,360 2.2
Newfoundland 31,090 -3.3
Prince Edward Island 9,220 3.4
Nova Scotia 30,310 6.0
New Brunswick 37,670 3.7
Quebec 199,510 3.5
Ontario 124,950 2.5
Manitoba 13,190 5.7
Saskatchewan 11,260 10.4
Alberta 31,280 7.0
British Columbia 68,360 -0.6
Yukon 1,350 -3.2
Northwest Territories 1,100 0.4
______________________________________________________________________________
The number of individuals who applied for Employment Insurance benefits increased slightly (+0.9%) to 224,700 in June. The increase in claims in Ontario (+18.1%), Prince Edward Island (+4.5%) and Quebec (+0.1%) was partly offset by declines in seven provinces and both territories. Since June 1996, the number of persons submitting Employment Insurance claims has ranged between 219,000 and 250,000.
Table: Employment Insurance statistics
______________________________________________________________________________
May 1998 June 1998 May to June
1998
______________________________________________________________________________
seasonally adjusted
_______________________________________________
% change
Reg. beneficiaries 543,450(p) 555,360(p) 2.2
Reg. payments ($
millions) 676.3 662.6 -2.0
Claims received ('000) 222.7 224.7 0.9
______________________________________________________________________________
June 1997 June 1998 June 1997 to
June 1998
______________________________________________________________________________
unadjusted
_______________________________________________
% change
All beneficiaries
('000) 644.2 614.3(p) -4.7
Reg. beneficiaries
('000) 467.3 446.4(p) -4.5
Claims received ('000) 188.4 201.9 7.1
Payments ($ millions) 863.6 824.9 -4.5
______________________________________________________________________________
Year-to-date (January to June)
_______________________ _______________________________________________
1997 1998 1997 to 1998
______________________________________________________________________________
% change
Claims received ('000) 1,282.9 1,262.3 -1.6
Payments ($ millions) 6,914.5 5,593.7 -4.6
______________________________________________________________________________
(p) Preliminary figures.
Note: All beneficiaries includes all claimants paid regular benefits (e.g.,
due to layoff) or special benefits (e.g., due to illness).
Note: The discrepancy between the estimated number of regular beneficiaries and regular payments series can be explained in part by differences in their references periods. The number of beneficiaries is a measure of all persons who were in receipt of Employment Insurance benefits for the week containing the 15th of the month. The regular benefit payments series measures the total of all monies received by individuals for the entire month.
Available on CANSIM: matrices 26 (series 1.6), 5700-5717 and 5735-5736.
For further information on this release, Gilles Groleau or Mike Scrim, Labour Division (613-951-4090; fax: 613-951-4087; labour@statcan.gc.ca).
1998/99
Tuition fees at universities have risen steadily (by an average of 11% per year) in the 1990s at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. These advances have been prompted mainly by decreases in government funding to the institutions, which now require students to cover a relatively larger portion of the cost of their education directly through tuition fees.
For the 1998/99 academic year, tuition increases average 7.4% for undergraduate arts students, bringing tuition to an average $3,179 across Canada. Other fields of study such as law, dentistry and medicine not only have generally higher tuition levels but also experienced large average tuition increases in 1998/99. For example, an average 27.0% increase in tuition for dentistry students resulted in average tuition reaching $5,930 this year. Graduate students experienced an increase similar to the undergraduate level with average tuition rising 9.3% to $3,287.
The average tuition for undergraduate arts students in British Columbia edged up 0.7% to $2,736 in 1998/99 - the smallest increase in all of the provinces. Ontario registered the largest increase (+11.3% to $3,536) followed by Alberta (+7.9% to $3,447). Nova Scotia maintains the highest average undergraduate arts tuition in 1998/99 at $3,903. Sharp fee increases for graduate studies occurred in Nova Scotia and Ontario, with both provinces having the highest tuition costs at $5,049 and $4,224 per academic year respectively.
Some graduate level programs now charge fees that are closer to their actual cost. Examples include the MBA or Executive MBA programs at the University of Ottawa, University of Toronto, Queen's University and Simon Fraser University.
Tuition fees for foreign students, which have traditionally been higher than those for Canadian students, have increased by an average of 3.9% across Canada to $8,458 for undergraduate arts students. Foreign graduate students pay an average of $7,386 for the 1998/99 academic year at Canadian institutions, an increase of only 0.4% compared with 1997/98.
Data on tuition and living accommodation costs at Canadian universities are now available for the 1998/99 academic year. Tuition fees are available by institution at the undergraduate and graduate levels for both Canadian and foreign students. Information is also available about additional fees for athletics, health services, student associations and other compulsory fees, as well as accommodations for room and board in university residences.
For further information on this release, contact Brigitte Bouchard at (613-951-9167; boucbri@statcan.gc.ca). To obtain tables or make general inquiries, contact Daniel Perrier (613-951-1503; perrdan@statcan.gc.ca), Centre for Education Statistics.
1997 (preliminary)
Prices for consulting engineering services rose 1.2% between 1996 and 1997. A 2.5% advance in prices charged to foreign clients bolstered the domestic price increase of 1.1%. Rising prices for consulting engineering services in oil, petroleum and natural gas (+4.3%); and mining, metallurgy, and primary metals (+4.1%) fields of specialization were largely responsible for the upward movement of the domestic price index.
Detailed indexes are available by field of specialization for foreign, domestic and regional markets, as well as for the wage and realized net multiplier components of the consulting engineering price indexes.
Table: Consulting engineering services price indexes by market and field of
specialization.
(1992=100)
______________________________________________________________________________
1996(r) 1997(p) 1996 to 1997
______________________________________________________________________________
% change
Total engineering, all
markets 104.4 105.7 1.2
Engineering in Canada,
total 103.0 104.1 1.1
Buildings 105.4 104.7 -0.7
Transportation 103.5 103.0 -0.5
Municipal services 100.0 100.1 0.1
Other environmental
services 105.5 109.0 3.3
Industrial services 103.7 106.1 2.3
Mining, metallurgy
and primary metals 105.2 109.5 4.1
Pulp and paper 95.6 97.5 2.0
Oil, petroleum and
natural gas 105.6 110.1 4.3
Power generation and
transmission 102.7 103.5 0.8
Other industrial
services 111.0 109.2 -1.6
Other engineering
services 98.8 98.7 -0.1
Foreign engineering,
total 114.0 116.9 2.5
______________________________________________________________________________
(r) Revised figures.
(p) Preliminary figures.
Available on CANSIM: matrices 2047-2049.
Consulting engineering services price indexes will be published in the second quarter issue of the Construction price statistics (62-007-XPB, $24/$79) which will be available in September. See How to order publications .
For further information on this release, contact François Bordé (613-951-3370) or Jennifer Winters (613-951-3373, fax: 613-951-2848; wintjen@statscan.ca ), Prices Division.
March 1998
Legal Aid in Canada: Description of operations, describes the structure and administration of provincial legal aid services and includes information on legislation, organization, coverage, eligibility, duty counsel and tariffs. Lists of resource persons and legal aid office locations are also provided.
Legal Aid in Canada: Description of operations, March 1998 (diskette, 85-217-XDB, $35; Internet, 85-217-XIB, $30) is now available. See How to order publications.
For further information on this release, contact the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (613 951-9023 or 1 800 387-2231).
Second quarter 1997 (preliminary)
Air passenger origin and destination data are now available for the first six months of 1997. The data represent passengers who travelled between Canada and the United States on scheduled flights provided by major air carriers.
For further information on this release, contact Carol Gudz (613-951-0124), Aviation Statistics Centre, Transportation Division.
The Summer 1998 edition of Labour force update features the latest information and relevant trends relating to a particular labour market issue. Informative commentary, charts and analytical tables provide a concise and up-to-date reference on the topic, as well as a useful starting point for further research. The current issue covers "A new perspective on wages".
Labour force update (71-005-XPB, $29/$96) is now available. To order the publication, contact the Statistics Canada Regional Reference Centre nearest to you or via the Internet at order@statcan.gc.ca. For more information about the product, contact Geoff Bowlby at (613-951-3325).
Pulpwood and wood residue statistics, June 1998
Catalogue number 25-001-XPB
(Canada: $8/$73; outside Canada: US$8/US$73).
Wholesaling and retailing in Canada, 1995
Catalogue number 63-236-XPB
(Canada: $47; outside Canada: US$47).
Labour force update: A new perspective on wages, Summer 1998
Catalogue number 71-005-XPB
(Canada: $29/$96; outside Canada: US$29/US$96).
Legal Aid in Canada: Description of operations, March 1997
Catalogue number 85-217-XIB
(Canada: $30; outside Canada: US$30).
All prices exclude sales tax.