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Manitoba falls behind in payroll jobs, StatsCan says

MANITOBA is falling behind most other provinces in creating new payroll jobs and in average-weekly-earnings gains, according to new Statistics Canada data released Friday.

The agency said Manitoba had the second smallest increase -- 1.5 per cent -- in average weekly earnings between last August, when payroll employment started to rebound in Canada, and May of this year.

The only province with a smaller increase was New Brunswick, at 0.8 per cent, while the national average increase was three per cent.

The Statistics Canada figures also show that in May, Manitoba had the fourth lowest average weekly earnings in the country at $787.33. The only provinces with lower average earnings were the three Maritime provinces and Quebec.

Economists have said average weekly earnings are important because higher earnings make it easier for local employers to attract and retain workers.

The StatsCan figures also show Manitoba had the country's largest percentage decline in payroll-job growth between May of last year and May of this year, at 0.7 per cent. During that same period, payroll employment in Canada increased by 0.4 per cent.

Payroll employees are people who work for someone else, as opposed to be being self-employed. Most Manitoba workers are payroll employees.

Manitoba was also one of only three provinces to post a decline in payroll employment, albeit a small one (0.1 per cent), between December of last year and May of this year.

The seasonally adjusted figures show there were 556,700 payroll workers here in May of this year, compared to 557,400 in December and 560,600 in May of last year.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 31, 2010 B6

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