Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.): it may be Canada’s smallest province, but it stands tall when it comes to the growth of weekly average earnings, according to data released Thursday by Statistics Canada.
The federal data agency released the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH) for November 2016. It showed that P.E.I.’s average weekly earnings grew by 2.3 per cent year-over-year, more than any other province.
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P.E.I. didn’t have the highest average weekly earnings — that was Alberta’s $1,114.21, which represented a 0.6 per cent decline from November 2015 — but it saw stronger annual growth than anyone else.
Quebec came in second with growth of 2.1 per cent, followed by New Brunswick with 1.8 per cent.
SEPH is a monthly survey that provides a snapshot of weekly earnings, occupied jobs and hours worked in most industries at the provincial and national levels.
It’s distinct from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), which offers estimates of employment and unemployment rates across Canada.
And it’s a more “proper signal” for how employment is faring because it “culls data from actual payrolls” in the provinces, BMO senior economist Robert Kavcic wrote in a note released Thursday.
For example, the LFS showed that Alberta kept “chugging along” during the oil price shock, while “SEPH was reporting deteriorating conditions,” he wrote.
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Average weekly earnings in P.E.I. stood at $824.26 in November, which provides an annualized rate of $42,861.52. And that’s up from an annualized wage of $41,892.76 year-over-year.
The results came in a month when average weekly earnings grew in five of the 10 biggest industrial sectors.
The information and cultural industries sector, which includes businesses such as telecommunications, film production and publishing, saw the strongest growth in average weekly earnings at 7.2 per cent.
It was followed by mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction, which grew by 5.9 per cent, and finance and insurance, which jumped by 5.2 per cent.
Here’s how provinces stacked up when it came to average weekly earnings growth:
10) Alberta: -0.6 per cent
Average weekly earnings (November 2016): $1,114.21
Annualized weekly earnings (November 2016): $57,938.92
Average weekly earnings (November 2015): $1,132.07
Annualized weekly earnings (November 2015): $58,867.64
9) Saskatchewan: 0.7 per cent
Average weekly earnings (November 2016): $988.81
Annualized weekly earnings (November 2016): $51,418.12
Average weekly earnings (November 2015): $981.97
Annualized weekly earnings (November 2015): $51,062.44
8) Ontario: 1.0 per cent
Average weekly earnings (November 2016): $978.24
Annualized weekly earnings (November 2016): $50,869
Average weekly earnings (November 2015): $968.12
Annualized weekly earnings (November 2015): $50,342.24
7) Newfoundland and Labrador: 1.2 per cent
Average weekly earnings (November 2016): $1,035.18
Annualized weekly earnings (November 2016): $53,829.36
Average weekly earnings (November 2015): $1,023.10
Annualized weekly earnings (November 2015): $53,201.20
5) (tie) British Columbia: 1.5 per cent
Average weekly earnings (November 2016): $924.46
Annualized weekly earnings (November 2016): $48,071.92
Average weekly earnings (November 2015): $910.40
Annualized weekly earnings (November 2015): $47,340.80
5) (tie) Nova Scotia: 1.5 per cent
Average weekly earnings (November 2016): $847.27
Annualized weekly earnings (November 2016): $44,058.04
Average weekly earnings (November 2015): $834.97
Annualized weekly earnings (November 2015): $43,418.44
4) Manitoba: 1.6 per cent
Average weekly earnings (November 2016): $898.14
Annualized weekly earnings (November 2016): $46,703.28
Average weekly earnings (November 2015): $883.63
Annualized weekly earnings (November 2015): $45,948.76
3) New Brunswick: 1.8 per cent
Average weekly earnings (November 2016): $878.82
Annualized weekly earnings (November 2016): $45,698.64
Average weekly earnings (November 2015): $863.20
Annualized weekly earnings (November 2015): $44,886.40
2) Quebec: 2.1 per cent
Average weekly earnings (November 2016): $878.82
Annualized weekly earnings (November 2016): $45,698.64
Average weekly earnings (November 2015): $860.42
Annualized weekly earnings (November 2015): $44,741.84
1) Prince Edward Island: 2.3 per cent
Average weekly earnings (November 2016): $824.26
Annualized weekly earnings (November 2016): $42,861.52
Average weekly earnings (November 2015): $805.63
Annualized weekly earnings (November 2015): $41,892.76
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