Average weekly wages increasing in province

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This article was published 25/05/2017 (3086 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Average weekly earnings in Manitoba grew at one of the fastest paces in the country between March of last year and March of this year, new Statistics Canada data shows.

In its monthly payroll employment and earnings report released Thursday, the agency said average weekly earnings for payroll employees in the province — people who work for someone, as opposed to being self employed — rose by 2.4 per cent to $908.32 in March from $886.91 in March 2016.

That was the third highest year-over-year growth rate among the provinces after Newfoundland and Labrador’s 2.9 per cent and Saskatchewan’s 2.6 per cent. It was also more than double the national average increase of 0.9 per cent for the same period.

The agency said Manitoba’s growth was driven by higher earnings in the province’s construction and finance and insurance sectors.

“Earnings in the province have trended upward since October 2016,” it added.

The year-over-year growth included a 0.2 per cent increase in average earnings from February to March.

On the jobs front, the agency said Manitoba gained 10,200 new payroll positions between March of last year and March of this year. That boosted the number of payroll employees in the province to 597,500 from 587,300 a year earlier.

On a month-to-month basis, 1,000 new employees were added between February and March, the agency said.

— Murray McNeill