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April 27, 2023PAYROLL EMPLOYMENT AND AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS, FEBRUARY 2023 Month-over-month (February 2023 vs January 2023, seasonally adjusted)
Nova Scotia had 446,784 payroll employees in February 2023, up 0.1% (+418) compared to January 2023. Canada had 17.94 million employees, up 0.3% from January 2023 with gains in eight provinces. Alberta reported the fastest growth in payroll employment and Prince Edward Island and Manitoba reported declines in February 2023.
Nova Scotians' average weekly earnings were $1,033.32 in February of 2023, an increase of $1.78 (+0.2%) over January 2023.
Nationally, average weekly earnings were $1,176.89, a decrease of 0.4% (-$5.01) from average weekly earnings in January 2023. Seven provinces reported decreases in average weekly earnings. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest decline while Prince Edward Island reported the largest gain.
Nova Scotia's average weekly earnings were highest in professional and technical services, company management, and finance and insurance industries. The lowest average weekly earnings were reported in Nova Scotia's accommodations and food service industries and in retail trade.
In February 2023, Nova Scotia's average weekly wages were 87.8% of the national average. Nova Scotia average weekly wages were below the comparable national average for every industry. The smallest gaps were in arts and recreation and retail trade. The largest gap was in information and culture where Nova Scotia average weekly wages were 76.8% of the national average for that industry.
Year-over-year (February 2023 vs February 2022)
Compared with the same month in 2022, Nova Scotia's payroll employment grew by 4.1% (+17,574) in February 2023. This was slower than the national average gain of 4.3%. All provinces reported growth in payroll employment, with the fastest gain in Alberta and the slowest growth in Manitoba.
Among the standard industries reported by Statistics Canada, Nova Scotia's largest industries of employment were health care and social assistance (which includes daycares), followed by retail trade and education.
Accommodation and food services as well as professional and technical services industries had the fastest year-over-year growth in payroll employment in Nova Scotia. Information and culture industries reported the largest percentage fall in payroll employment.
Average weekly wages grew by 2.6% in Nova Scotia from February 2022 to February 2023. This was faster than the national pace.
Average weekly wages grew by 1.8% across Canada from February 2022 to February 2023. There were gains in each province, with the fastest rise in Prince Edward Island. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the slowest gain.
Average weekly wages were up 7.9% in Nova Scotia's goods-producing industries and 1.4% in Nova Scotia's services-producing industries. Most of the industries reported positive year-over-year growth in average weekly wages with the largest increases in arts and recreation as well as professional and technical services and manufacturing industries. Information and culture reported the largest decline.
Year-to-date (January-February 2023 vs January-February 2022)
In January-February 2023, Nova Scotia's payroll employment increased 2.1% over January-February 2022. Across Canada, payroll employment growth was 2.2% with gains in all provinces. Alberta reported the fastest rise in payroll employment while Prince Edward Island reported the slowest growth.
In January-February 2023, professional and technical services as well as construction industries reported the fastest employment growth in percentage terms compared to the same period in 2022. Information and culture reported the largest percentage decline.
In January-February 2023, Nova Scotia's average weekly earnings increased by 1.3% compared to the same period in 2022. National average weekly earnings were up 1.2% in the first two months of the year with gains in all provinces. Prince Edward Island reported the fastest gain in average weekly earnings while Alberta reported the slowest rises.
In January-February 2023, manufacturing, arts and recreation, and accommodation and food services reported the fastest percentage gains in average weekly earnings compared to the same period in 2022. Information and culture reported the largest percentage decline.
In January-February 2023, Nova Scotia's average weekly earnings were highest in professional and technical services as well as in company management industries. Nova Scotians' average weekly earnings averaged 87.5% of the national value for all industries in January-February 2023. All industries in Nova Scotia reported average weekly earnings below their national counterparts. The gaps were narrowest in arts and recreation and retail trade as well as finance and insurance and accommodation and food service industries. Information and culture workers in Nova Scotia reported the largest gap in average weekly earnings compared with the national average for the industry.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0222-01 Employment, average hourly and weekly earnings (including overtime), and average weekly hours for the industrial aggregate excluding unclassified businesses, monthly, seasonally adjusted; Table 14-10-0223-01 Employment and average weekly earnings (including overtime) for all employees by province and territory, monthly, seasonally adjusted
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