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November 29, 2019COMPENSATION OF EMPLOYEES Q3 2019 
Nova Scotia's seasonally adjusted employee compensation (wages+salaries+employer social contributions) increased 0.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2019 to $6.220 billion. Compared to the third quarter of 2018 compensation was up 4.8 per cent.
The wages and salaries portion of employee compensation was up 1.0 per cent to $5.364 billion in the third quarter; an increase of 4.9 per cent over the same quarter in 2018. Employers' social contributions increased 0.5 per cent in the quarter and were 4.4 per cent higher than the third quarter 2018.
For the quarter, Canada's employee compensation was up 1.3 per cent as compensation increased in all provinces. Quarterly growth was fastest in Quebec (+1.6%) and Ontario (+1.5%) and the slowest growth was in Saskatchewan (+0.3%).
Comparing Q1-Q3 2019 with Q1-Q3 2018, Canada's employee compensation was up 4.3 per cent. The fastest growth was Quebec (+5.8%), New Brunswick (+5.6%), and British Columbia (+5.5%). Nine provinces had growth above 3 per cent with Alberta (+1.6%) reporting growth below 3 per cent.
Comparing the seasonally unadjusted data for first three quarters of 2019 with the first three quarters of 2018 total wages and salaries increased 5.1 per cent in Nova Scotia. The total wages and salaries paid in the goods sector rose by 5.4 per cent. The total wages and salaries rose in agriculture, forestry and fishing (+3.1%), mining, oil and gas (+3.0%), manufacturing (+6.7%), construction (+4.8%) and utilities (+5.4%).
All private sector service sectors had year over year growth. Growth was strongest in professional services (+6.5%), trade (+4.3%), and information and cultural industries (+5.2%), but also up in finance and real estate (+1.8%) and transportation and storage (+0.5%).
Total wages and salaries were up for educational services (+8.5%), health Care and Social Assistance (+8.0%), federal public administration (+2.0%), military (+2.1%), provincial public administration (+2.3%) and declined in local public administration (-1.0%).
Note: comparison of wages and salaries by sector rely on data that are neither seasonally adjusted nor adjusted to reflect differences in pay periods from one year to the next.
Statistics Canada. Table 36-10-0205-01 Wages, salaries and employers' social contributions (x 1,000)
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