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Payroll employment, earnings and hours, and job vacancies, July 2022

Released: 2022-09-29

Average weekly earnings — Canada

$1,163.23

July 2022

2.9% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — N.L.

$1,140.40

July 2022

3.2% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — P.E.I.

$980.01

July 2022

1.8% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — N.S.

$1,021.88

July 2022

3.7% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — N.B.

$1,068.49

July 2022

5.9% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — Que.

$1,119.35

July 2022

5.9% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — Ont.

$1,190.25

July 2022

2.4% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — Man.

$1,054.32

July 2022

3.1% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — Sask.

$1,140.16

July 2022

2.8% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — Alta.

$1,247.09

July 2022

1.1% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — B.C.

$1,162.06

July 2022

1.9% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — Y.T.

$1,339.21

July 2022

2.9% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — N.W.T.

$1,557.31

July 2022

-0.4% decrease

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — Nvt.

$1,511.58

July 2022

0.6% increase

(12-month change)

The number of employees receiving pay or benefits from their employer—measured by the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH)—edged up by 12,900 (+0.1%) in July, bringing the total increase to nearly 1.3 million (+7.9%) since July 2021. Gains in Alberta (+8,100; +0.4%) and British Columbia (+6,500; +0.3%) were partially offset by a decline in Newfoundland and Labrador (-4,300; -1.9%), while little change was reported in the remaining provinces.

Payroll employment increases in the services-producing sector for the second consecutive month

Payroll employment in the services-producing sector increased by 21,600 (+0.2%) in July, the second consecutive monthly increase. Gains were seen in 10 out of the 15 services-producing sectors, with professional, scientific and technical services (+7,400; +0.6%) and accommodation and food services (+6,500; +0.5%) reporting the largest increases. Health care and social assistance (-11,200; -0.5%) was the only services-producing sector to report a payroll employment decrease in July, while the remaining four sectors showed little change.

Payroll employment was little changed in the goods-producing sector in July. Gains in construction (+4,600; +0.4%) and mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (+900; +0.4%) were partially offset by a decline in forestry, logging and support services (-400; -1.1%) and little change in the remaining goods-producing sectors.

Chart 1  Chart 1: Payroll employment edges up in July
Payroll employment edges up in July

Payroll employment gains continue in professional, scientific and technical services

Payroll employment in professional, scientific and technical services increased by 7,400 (+0.6%) in July, a faster growth than in June (+4,800; +0.4%). The majority of the increase was concentrated in Quebec (+3,100; +1.1%), British Columbia (+1,900; +1.1%), and Alberta (+1,900; +1.5%).

Nationally, much of the payroll employment gain within the sector was seen in computer systems design and related services (+5,000; +1.4%) and architectural, engineering and related services (+1,300; +0.6%). Every month since September 2021, payroll employment in the computer systems design and related services industry has outpaced the sector's growth rate as a whole. This is the largest industry within the sector in terms of payroll employees, and its share of the overall sector has increased from 27.2% in February 2020 to 31.3% in July 2022.

Accommodation and food services draws ever closer to pre-pandemic levels

Payroll employment in the accommodation and food services sector rose at a slower pace in July (+6,500; +0.5%) than in June (+24,200; +2.0%). Increases were seen in full-service restaurants and limited-service eating places (+3,300; +0.3%) and traveler accommodation (+2,100; +1.3%).

Gains in payroll employment in accommodation and food services were seen across five provinces, with the largest increases in Ontario (+2,300; +0.5%) and Quebec (+2,000; +0.8%). Nationally, payroll employment in the sector was 5.7% below its pre-COVID-19 levels in July, the closest this sector has been to its February 2020 levels.

Payroll employment decreases in health care and social assistance in July

Payroll employment in the health care and social assistance sector declined by 11,200 (-0.5%) in July, the largest monthly decrease observed since May 2020. Quebec (-9,100; -1.7%) reported the largest payroll employment decrease in July 2022, followed by Ontario (-2,500; -0.3%) and Nova Scotia (-1,500; -2.1%). Gains in Alberta (+2,300; +1.0%) partially offset the overall decline observed in the sector.

In July, half of the industries within health care and social assistance recorded payroll employment decreases, led by general medical and surgical hospitals (-4,300; -0.7%) and outpatient care centres (-3,700; -2.3%). In contrast, payroll employment was up in child day-care services (+3,800; +2.3%), partially offsetting the overall decrease observed in the sector.

Average weekly earnings maintain upward trend in year-over-year growth

In July, average weekly earnings were up 2.9% year over year, continuing their growth since June 2021. Earnings growth can reflect a number of factors, including changes in wages, changes in the composition of employment, and changes in hours worked.

On a year-over-year basis, 12 of the 20 sectors reported gains in average weekly earnings in July. Utilities (+8.8% to $2,034), retail trade (+8.5% to $704), manufacturing (+8.4% to $1,280), and forestry, logging and support (+8.2% to $1,290) reported the largest gains in average weekly earnings, while outpacing the national Consumer Price Index (+7.6%) growth.

Quebec (+5.9% to $1,119) and New Brunswick (+5.9% to $1,068) recorded the largest year-over-year gains in average weekly earnings in July, while Alberta (+1.1% to $1,247) recorded the smallest gain.

Average weekly hours unchanged in July

Average weekly hours worked were unchanged in July compared with the previous month and were down 0.6% from July 2021. Alberta (+2.1% to 34.2 hours) was the only province to report a monthly increase. Nationally, real estate and rental and leasing (+2.0% to 35.3 hours) was the only sector to show a monthly increase in July, while arts, entertainment and recreation (-2.7% to 25.1 hours) reported the largest decrease.

Job vacancies decline in July

In July, employers in Canada were actively recruiting for just under one million (964,000) vacant positions, down 5.5% (-56,400) compared with June and down 7.0% (-72,700) compared with May. However, the number of job vacancies in July remained elevated and was 16.2% (+134,300) higher than during the same month in 2021.

The job vacancy rate, which corresponds to the number of vacant positions as a proportion of total labour demand (the sum of filled and vacant positions), was 5.4% in July, down by 0.4 percentage points from June and by 0.6 percentage points from its peak of 6.0% in April 2022.

Payroll employment increased 6.1% from March to July 2022, outpacing growth in labour demand (+5.7%) over the same period and contributing to the decline in job vacancies from a peak of 1.04 million in May. New data developed by Statistics Canada to remove seasonal variations suggest that about half of the decrease in job vacancies from June to July was attributable to seasonal patterns.

The decrease in job vacancies from June to July was accompanied by an increase in unemployment (+10.5%; +104,300). However, the labour market remained tighter in July compared with a year earlier. In July 2022, there were 1.1 unemployed persons per job vacancy in Canada, up from 1.0 in June but down from 1.9 in July 2021.

Chart 2  Chart 2: Job vacancies fall below one million in July but remain elevated
Job vacancies fall below one million in July but remain elevated

Job vacancies little changed in health care and social assistance

Employers in health care and social assistance were seeking to fill 142,900 vacant positions in July, little changed from June (147,300) and from the record high reached in March (147,500). The job vacancy rate was 6.0% in the sector, also little changed from June 2022. Staff shortages in health care and social assistance in July have led many hospitals to announce temporary reductions in services, including in their emergency rooms.

Job vacancies down in accommodation and food services, retail trade, and professional, scientific and technical services

In accommodation and food services, vacancies decreased 15.4% (-26,200) to 143,600 in July after five consecutive monthly increases. The job vacancy rate in the sector decreased by 2.1 percentage points to 10.0% in July, led by an increase in payroll employment (+4.9%; +61,000) and a decrease in job vacancies. Despite the decrease in the job vacancy rate, it has remained the highest among all sectors since March 2021 and is nearly twice as high as the job vacancy rate in the economy as a whole.

There were 99,100 job vacancies in retail trade in July, down 11.9% (-13,400) from June, but 7.0% (+6,500) higher than a year earlier. The job vacancy rate was 4.6% in July, down from 5.3% in the previous month but little changed on a year-over-year basis.

The number of job vacancies in professional, scientific and technical services decreased to 65,600 in July, down 9.4% (-6,800) from June and down 14.9% (-11,500) from its peak of 77,100 in April 2022. From June to July, the job vacancy rate declined by 0.6 percentage points to 5.3%. Payroll employment in this sector has steadily increased since May 2020, reaching almost 1.2 million in July 2022 (SEPH, seasonally adjusted).

Job vacancies little changed in several other sectors

In July, the number of job vacancies was little changed—but remained elevated nonetheless—in manufacturing (82,500); construction (81,600); administrative and support, waste management and remediation services (57,000); and finance and insurance (45,100). The job vacancy rate was equal to or higher than 5% for these four sectors in July.




Sustainable Development Goals

On January 1, 2016, the world officially began implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—the United Nations' transformative plan of action that addresses urgent global challenges over the next 15 years. The plan is based on 17 specific sustainable development goals.

The Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours is an example of how Statistics Canada supports the reporting on the Global Goals for Sustainable Development. This release will be used in helping to measure the following goals:

  Note to readers

Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours

The key objective of the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH) is to provide a monthly portrait of the level of earnings, employment and hours worked, by detailed industry, at the national, provincial and territorial levels.

Payroll employment, as measured by the SEPH, refers to the number of employees receiving pay or benefits (employment income) during a given month. The survey excludes the self-employed, owners and partners of unincorporated businesses and professional practices, and employees in the agricultural sector.

SEPH estimates are produced by integrating information from three sources: a census of approximately 1 million payroll deduction records provided by the Canada Revenue Agency; the Business Payrolls Survey, which collects data from a sample of 15,000 establishments; and administrative records of federal, provincial and territorial public administration employment, provided by these levels of government.

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 records and are not subject to sampling variability.

With each release of SEPH data, data for the preceding month are revised. Users are encouraged to use the most up-to-date data available for each month.

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 it collects data on the sociodemographic characteristics of all those in the labour market.

As a result of conceptual and methodological differences, estimates of changes from the SEPH and the LFS differ occasionally. However, the trends in the data are similar. For a more in-depth discussion of the conceptual differences between employment measures from the LFS and the 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 month-to-month comparisons because the effects of seasonal variations are removed. 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 and for the "other employees" category, which includes piece-rate and commission-only employees.

Unless otherwise specified, 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 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.

Job Vacancy and Wage Survey

Beginning with the release of October 2020 data, preliminary monthly estimates from the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey (JVWS) are published on a monthly basis. These estimates provide more timely information on the number of job vacancies and the job vacancy rate by province and by industrial sector.

JVWS collection is done on a quarterly basis. The quarterly sample of business locations is allocated to the three collection months of the quarter, approximately balanced by province and by industrial sector across each of the three months. This allows both quarterly and monthly estimates to be produced.

The JVWS also provides comprehensive quarterly data on job vacancies by industrial sector and detailed occupation for Canada and the provinces, territories and economic regions; offered hourly wages; and job vacancy characteristics. Quarterly data for the second and third quarters of 2020 are unavailable because survey operations were temporarily suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic. More information about the concepts and use of data from the JVWS is available in the Guide to the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey (Catalogue number75-514-G).

Preliminary monthly estimates are produced for job vacancies, job vacancy rates and payroll employment using available responses from business locations sampled in the corresponding reference month. The reference period for the JVWS is the first day of the respective month.

These preliminary monthly estimates are revised and finalized when the corresponding quarterly estimates are released or shortly thereafter. Users are encouraged to use the most up-to-date data available for each month.

JVWS estimates are not seasonally adjusted. Therefore, month-to-month and quarter-to-quarter comparisons should be interpreted with caution as they may reflect seasonal movements. New experimental data adjusted for seasonality are derived from ongoing work to develop seasonally adjusted JVWS time series. Further information on this ongoing work is available on request.

While JVWS employment is calibrated to the SEPH, SEPH payroll employment and JVWS preliminary monthly employment figures may differ because of calibration grouping and differences in scope and reference period.

Labour Force Survey data used in this Daily release to calculate the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratios are non-seasonally adjusted (unless otherwise indicated).

Real-time data tables

Real-time data tables 14-10-0357-01, 14-10-0358-01, 14-10-0331-01 and 14-10-0332-01 will be updated on October 17, 2022.

Next release

Data on payroll employment, earnings and hours, and job vacancies for August will be released on October 27, 2022.

Products

More information about the concepts and use of the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours is available in the Guide to the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (Catalogue number72-203-G).

The product "Earnings and payroll employment in brief: Interactive app" (14200001) is now available. This interactive data visualization application provides a comprehensive picture of the Canadian labour market using the most recent data from the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours. The estimates are seasonally adjusted and available by province and largest industrial sector. Historical estimates going back 10 years are also included. The interactive application allows users to quickly and easily explore and personalize the information presented. Combine multiple provinces and industrial sectors to create your own labour market domains of interest.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).

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