Canada. Payroll Employment: Largest Drop in 18 Years

Payroll employment decreased by 117,000 (-0.8%) in January from the previous month, the largest drop since March 1991. Since the peak reached in October 2008, the number of employees has decreased by 230,500.

In January, employment fell in every province, with Alberta (-1.4%) and British Columbia (-1.3%) experiencing the largest percentage declines. Ontario recorded the largest drop in the number of employees (-42,200).

Declines in the number of employees were observed in most industries, with the largest decrease occurring in manufacturing (-25,400). Payroll employment in manufacturing has fallen by 105,300 over the last six months. Construction (-15,100), and professional, scientific, and technical services (-14,000) also experienced significant losses in payroll employment. Industries that recorded payroll employment growth in January included public administration (+4,800) and retail trade (+4,700).

The average weekly earnings of employees have however increased 1.1% from December 2008 to $823.71 in January 2009.

Since January 2008, average weekly earnings have risen 3.2%.

Among Canada's largest industrial sectors, between January 2008 and January 2009, average weekly earnings increased by 6.1% in retail trade, 4.4% in health and social assistance, 3.5% in educational services, and 2.2% in accommodation and food services. Over the same period, earnings declined by 0.8% in manufacturing and 0.4% in public administration.

The strongest year-over-year earnings growth among the provinces was reported in Alberta (+7.9%) and Saskatchewan (+6.3%).

Source: Statistics Canada, March 31, 2009

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