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Payroll employment, earnings and hours, and job vacancies, March 2023

Released: 2023-05-25

Average weekly earnings — Canada

$1,185.03

March 2023

1.4% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — N.L.

$1,172.58

March 2023

3.2% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — P.E.I.

$1,006.92

March 2023

3.5% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — N.S.

$1,037.28

March 2023

3.1% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — N.B.

$1,112.85

March 2023

3.6% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — Que.

$1,119.28

March 2023

0.6% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — Ont.

$1,216.79

March 2023

1.0% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — Man.

$1,090.61

March 2023

5.2% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — Sask.

$1,176.11

March 2023

4.0% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — Alta.

$1,267.97

March 2023

1.1% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — B.C.

$1,184.63

March 2023

2.0% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — Y.T.

$1,337.59

March 2023

1.7% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — N.W.T.

$1,606.05

March 2023

2.5% increase

(12-month change)

Average weekly earnings — Nvt.

$1,708.54

March 2023

12.4% increase

(12-month change)

The number of employees receiving pay or benefits from their employer—measured as "payroll employees" in the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours—was little changed in March (-9,900). This follows an increase of 37,900 (+0.2%) in February. Meanwhile, job vacancies edged down by 17,300 (-2.1%) in March.

Chart 1  Chart 1: Payroll employment shows little change in March 2023
Payroll employment shows little change in March 2023

Payroll employment declines in the goods-producing sector

Payroll employment in the goods-producing sector declined (-17,200; -0.6%) in March. Construction (-12,800; -1.1%) recorded the largest decline, followed by manufacturing (-4,500; -0.3%).

Payroll employment in the services-producing sector was little changed in March (-3,000). Increases were observed in three sectors, led by health care and social assistance (+6,300; +0.3%) and professional, scientific and technical services (+3,600; +0.3%). These gains were dampened by declines across 5 of the 15 services-producing sectors.

The largest declines in the services-producing sector in March were observed in accommodation and food services (-5,000; -0.4%), information and cultural industries (-4,200; -1.1%) and administrative and support, waste management and remediation services (-3,600; -0.4%). There was little change in the remaining seven sectors.

Continued growth in payroll employment in health care and social assistance

In March, payroll employment grew by 6,300 (+0.3%) in health care and social assistance, marking the seventh consecutive increase since September 2022. Increases were observed in six provinces, led by Quebec (+2,200; +0.4%), Alberta (+1,600; +0.7%) and Ontario (+1,100; +0.1%).

Nationally, increases in payroll employment in health care and social assistance were recorded in 12 of the 18 industries in March 2023, led by home health care services (+1,600; +1.9%), residential facilities for persons with an intellectual or developmental disability, a mental health or substance use condition (+1,500; +2.0%) and community care facilities for the elderly (+1,000; +0.7%).

Payroll employment in professional, scientific and technical services increases in March

Payroll employment in professional, scientific and technical services increased by 3,600 (+0.3%) in March, bringing cumulative gains since January 2023 to 9,100 (+0.8%).

Over half of this sector's monthly increase in March occurred in the architectural, engineering and related services industry (+2,000; +0.9%), an industry that employs around 20% of payroll employees in the sector.

Payroll employment in computer systems design and related services also increased in March 2023 (+900; +0.2%). However, this industry has had a slower pace of growth in early 2023, growing at an average of 900 or 0.2% per month, compared with an average of 4,500 or 1.3% per month in 2022.

Payroll employment in construction declines in March

Payroll employment in construction decreased by 12,800 (-1.1%) in March. At the industry level, residential building construction (-5,500; -3.2%) recorded the largest decline, followed by building finishing contractors (-2,600; -2.4%) and foundation, structure, and building exterior contractors (-2,000; -1.5%).

Decline in payroll employment observed in accommodation and food services

Payroll employment in accommodation and food services dropped by 5,000 (-0.4%) in March, the first decline after four consecutive monthly increases, which totalled 23,500 (+1.8%) from October 2022 to February 2023. The decline was concentrated in full-service restaurants and limited-service eating places (-7,200; -0.7%) and was partially mitigated by an increase in traveller accommodation (+2,300; +1.4%).

The decrease in payroll employment in the sector was observed in six provinces and was concentrated in Ontario (-2,900; -0.6%) and British Columbia (-2,100; -0.9%).

Average weekly earnings increase at a slower pace in March

On a year-over-year basis, average weekly earnings were up 1.4% in March, following an increase of 1.9% in February. Average weekly earnings increased notably over the first quarter of 2022 and reached a peak of $1,168 in March 2022. This resulted in a base-year effect that dampened the year-over-year growth in average weekly earnings in March 2023.

In March, average weekly earnings were up 0.7% (to $1,185) month over month, following little change in February and an increase of 1.2% in January. The largest monthly gains in March were recorded in finance and insurance (+5.6% to $1,547) and information and cultural industries (+4.1% to $1,728). Growth in average weekly earnings can reflect a range of factors, including changes in wages, composition of employment and hours worked.

Average weekly hours stood at 33.1 hours in March, unchanged from the previous month. On a year-over-year basis, growth in employment (+3.3%) outpaced growth in total hours worked (+1.8%), resulting in a 1.2% decline in average weekly hours worked.

Note: Base-year effects and average weekly earnings

Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH) average weekly earnings (AWE) are derived by dividing total weekly earnings of all employees by the total number of employees. The year-over-year growth in AWE is the percentage change between the AWE level for the current month (e.g., March 2023) and the AWE level in the same calendar month of the previous year (e.g., March 2022), also referred to as the base month.

Base-year effects refer to the impact that trends from 12 months earlier (base month) have on the current month's estimate of year-over-year change. In the case of SEPH, when the AWE in the base month is at the peak of a short-term trend, this tends to have a downward effect on year-over-year AWE growth in the current month. On the other hand, if the base month is at a low point of a trend, this tends to have an upward effect on the current month's year-over-year growth in AWE.

Job vacancies edge down in March

The number of job vacancies edged down by 17,300 (-2.1%) to 815,300 in March, bringing the cumulative decreases to 56,300 (-6.5%) since January, and to 187,900 (-18.7%) since the peak number of job vacancies reached in May 2022 (1,003,200). The number of job vacancies in March 2023 was the lowest since August 2021.

Decreases in the number of vacancies in administrative and support, waste management and remediation services (-7,400 to 43,700) and transportation and warehousing (-5,000 to 43,200) were tempered by an increase in job vacancies in educational services (+8,600 to 26,400) in March 2023. Meanwhile, the number of job vacancies was little changed in most other sectors, including the major contributors to overall vacancies.

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)— decreased 0.2 percentage points to 4.5% in March, the lowest rate since June 2021. The recent decrease in the job vacancy rate results from declines in job vacancies (-56,300; -6.5%) combined with gains in payroll employment (+115,000; +0.7%) since January 2023.

There were 1.3 unemployed persons for every job vacancy in March 2023, unchanged from February but up slightly from the ratio of 1.2 recorded from August 2022 to January 2023. This slight increase is due to the downward trend of job vacancies over this period, as the number of unemployed persons (measured in the Labour Force Survey) remained steady from January to March 2023.

Infographic 1  Thumbnail for Infographic 1: Job vacancies on a downward trend since May 2022 while unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio levels off in March 2023
Job vacancies on a downward trend since May 2022 while unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio levels off in March 2023

Job vacancies show little change in five major sectors

In March, job vacancies held steady in five sectors which together accounted for over half (58.6%) of all job vacancies: health care and social assistance (144,500; 17.7%), accommodation and food services (109,100; 13.4%); retail trade (88,300; 10.8%); construction (72,600; 8.9%); and manufacturing (63,100; 7.7%).

Among these five sectors, apart from health care and social assistance, the number of unfilled positions has generally followed a downward trend since the spring of 2022. Since May 2022 for instance, the number of unfilled positions has fallen by 48,600 (-30.8%) in accommodation and food services, by 24,000 (-27.6%) in manufacturing, by 21,100 (-19.3%) in retail trade, and by 11,600 (-13.8%) in construction. In contrast, job vacancies in health care and social assistance have not trended down over the same period.

Chart 2  Chart 2: The number of unfilled positions has been trending down in 4 of the 5 largest contributors to job vacancies since May 2022
The number of unfilled positions has been trending down in 4 of the 5 largest contributors to job vacancies since May 2022

The labour market remains tight in Quebec and British Columbia

The number of job vacancies showed little change in all provinces in March, with Prince Edward Island (5.3%), British Columbia (5.2%) and Quebec (5.0%) continuing to have the highest job vacancy rates. The job vacancy rate remained the lowest in Newfoundland and Labrador (3.1%) in the month.

In March, Quebec (1.0) and British Columbia (1.0) continued to have the lowest unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio of all provinces, while Newfoundland and Labrador (4.4) had the highest.




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 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

Job Vacancy and Wage Survey (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.

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.

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

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.

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. 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).

Real-time data tables

Real-time data tables 14-10-0331-01, 14-10-0332-01 and 14-10-0357-01 will be updated on June 12, 2023.

Next release

April 2023 data for the SEPH and the JVWS will be released on June 29, 2023. First quarter (January to March) of 2023 JVWS results, which will also provide insights into job vacancies by subsector, vacancies by occupation and offered wages, will be released on June 20, 2023.

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 that go back 10 years are also included. The interactive application allows users to explore and personalize the information presented quickly and easily. 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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