Weekly earnings in Canada are showing modest growth and are up 2.5% from May 2012, Statistics Canada reported July 25.
The average weekly pay packet for Canadian non-farm payroll employees is now $915.
B.C. lands in the middle of the pack with a 2.5% rise in wages, while workers in Alberta experienced the highest increase in wages at 4.9%. Saskatchewan's rate rose 4.8% and Prince Edward Island saw a 3.7% increase. Workers in Quebec had the lowest rate of increase, at 1.2%.
Canadian workers not only got raises but also worked slightly more hours on average, said Statistics Canada. The report also pointed to a shift in the type of work being undertaken, suggesting a rise in higher-paid jobs in some sectors and provinces is boosting the average increases.
Construction led the gains with a 6.7% increase. Administrative, wholesale trade and professional, scientific and technical services also saw gains.
Government administrative workers saw a rise of 3.1%, the result of "notable earnings growth" in that sector between June 2012 and January 2013, said Statistics Canada.
Earnings were down 0.6% for schoolteachers, led by declining wages in elementary and secondary schools.
