StatsCan said the jump was driven by an increase in transportation and warehousing, as well as finance and insurance
Average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees in Alberta continued to be the highest of all provinces in May, according to Statistics Canada.
The federal agency reported on Thursday that earnings in the province rose to $1,182, up 3.4 per cent month over month and an increase of three per cent year over year. The monthly hike was the highest in Canada.
It said the jump was “driven by an increase in transportation and warehousing, as well as finance and insurance.”
Alberta also saw the number of payroll employees increase by 2,900 from the previous month and by 14,700 from a year ago.
Nationally, the number of employees rose by 32,600 on a monthly basis and was up 353,000 from a year ago.
Average weekly earnings in Canada of $1,031 in May was up 1.1 per cent month over month and 3.4 per cent year over year.
“In general, changes in weekly earnings reflect a number of factors, including wage growth; changes in the composition of employment by industry, occupation and level of job experience; and average hours worked per week,” said StatsCan.
Compared with 12 months earlier, average weekly earnings were up in all of the 10 largest industrial sectors, led by administrative and support services, it said.
“For payroll employees in administrative and support services, earnings rose 7.5 per cent to an average of $844 per week in May, with the employment services industry contributing the most to the growth. Weekly earnings in the sector rose in the majority of the provinces, with Ontario and Alberta contributing the most to the growth.”
On a year-over-year basis, the number of payroll employees rose the most in healthcare and social assistance (+68,100 or +3.5 per cent), educational services (+44,300 or +3.4 per cent), public administration (+38,500 or +3.4 per cent) and manufacturing (+36,700 or +2.4 per cent). At the same time, payroll employment declined in information and cultural industries (-5,700 or -1.7 per cent) and mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (-3,400 or -1.6 per cent), explained Statistics Canada.
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