Highlights

December 2008 (preliminary)

• The average weekly earnings of employees decreased 0.1% from November to $801.92 in December.

• During 2008, average weekly earnings rose 2.7%.

• Among Canada's largest industrial sectors, between December 2007 and December 2008, earnings increased by 7.3% in health and social assistance, 4.2% in educational services, 3.7% in retail trade, 1.6% in manufacturing, and 0.9% in accommodation and food services.

• The strongest year-over-year earnings growth among the provinces was reported in Saskatchewan (+4.4%), Prince Edward Island (+4.2%), and Alberta (+4.0%).

• In December, the number of employees edged down 0.02% from the previous month.

• Since December 2007, the number of employees has increased by 110,500 (+0.8%).