The Daily
|
 In the news  Indicators  Releases by subject
 Special interest  Release schedule  Information

Payroll employment, earnings and hours, June 2015

Warning View the most recent version.

Archived Content

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.

Released: 2015-08-27

Average weekly earnings

$954.60

June 2015

1.9% 

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $955 in June, up 0.8% from the previous month. Compared with 12 months earlier, weekly earnings increased by 1.9%.

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 increase in weekly earnings compared with June 2014 reflected 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 33.0 hours per week in June, unchanged from the previous month and little changed from a year earlier.

Average weekly earnings by sector

In the 12 months to June, average weekly earnings outpaced the national average in 5 of the 10 largest industrial sectors, led by educational services, wholesale trade as well as administrative and support services. At the same time, earnings were virtually unchanged in professional, scientific and technical services, retail trade, and accommodation and food services.

Chart 2  Chart 2: Year-over-year change in average weekly earnings in the 10 largest sectors, June 2015
Year-over-year change in average weekly earnings in the 10 largest sectors, June 2015

Compared with June 2014, average weekly earnings in educational services were up 6.0% to $1,040, mainly in elementary and secondary schools. Prior to June 2015, year-over-year earnings growth in educational services had averaged 1.1% since the beginning of the year.

In wholesale trade, earnings rose 4.7% to $1,173 compared with 12 months earlier, driven by growth among merchant wholesalers of building material and supplies.

Weekly earnings in administrative and support services increased 4.5% to $778 in the 12 months to June, with the highest growth in travel arrangement and reservation services as well as employment services.

Average weekly earnings by province

Year over year, average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees increased in eight provinces in June, with the highest growth in Prince Edward Island. At the same time, earnings were virtually unchanged in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Chart 3  Chart 3: Year-over-year growth in average weekly earnings by province, June 2015
Year-over-year growth in average weekly earnings by province, June 2015

Compared with June 2014, average weekly earnings in Prince Edward Island rose 3.4% to $803. Gains were highest in professional, scientific and technical services, and manufacturing.

Average weekly earnings in Newfoundland and Labrador were up 3.0% to $1,026 in the 12 months to June, driven by gains in construction as well as health care and social assistance. The year-over-year earnings growth rate in Newfoundland and Labrador has outpaced the national average consistently since 2013.

Weekly earnings in New Brunswick rose 2.7% to $855 on a year-over-year basis, driven by gains in educational services and manufacturing.

In Manitoba, average weekly earnings increased 2.7% to $887 compared with June 2014. Earnings growth was highest in educational services and construction.

In the 12 months to June, earnings growth was virtually unchanged in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Non-farm payroll employment by sector

The number of non-farm payroll jobs fell by 11,700 in June, following an increase of 24,000 in May. The biggest losses for the month were in construction, accommodation and food services, retail trade, and mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction. Over the same period, payroll employment was up in transportation and warehousing as well as health care and social assistance.

Compared with 12 months earlier, the number of non-farm payroll employees increased by 154,500 or 1.0%. Over this period, the rate of employment growth was highest in arts, entertainment and recreation (+5.0%), as well as accommodation and food services (+2.5%). At the same time, there were employment declines in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (-7.4%).



  Note to readers

The Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH) is produced by a combination of a census of 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 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 level.

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), unemployed and 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.

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 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 are available and will be updated on September 11. For more information, consult the document Real-time CANSIM tables.

Next release

Data on payroll employment, earnings and hours for July will be released on September 24.

Products

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

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.

Contact information

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

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

Report a problem on this page

Is something not working? Is there information outdated? Can't find what you're looking for?

Please contact us and let us know how we can help you.

Privacy notice

Date modified: