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Friday, July 25, 1997
For release at 8:30 a.m.
May 1997 (preliminary)
The estimated average number of hours worked per week for employees paid by the hour advanced to 31.8 hours in May - it's highest level in recent years. This latest advance continues the trend observed over the past year. With the increase in average hours, weekly earnings rose by $4.62 (+0.8%) to $604.56. This was the second consecutive monthly gain, following three months of relative stability in employees' earnings. Employees in logging and forestry services; manufacturing; construction, accommodation, food and beverage services; and wholesale trade registered substantial earnings gains in May due to the increased hours.
Chart: Average workweek for hourly employees
increased sharply in May
In May, employees' average weekly earnings were 3.0% higher than the same month in 1996, led by gains in logging and forestry services, business services, and manufacturing. Year-over-year earnings growth has been in the range of 3% to 4% since the end of 1996.
The estimated number of employees on company payrolls rose slightly in May for the second consecutive month. Employment gains by businesses in Ontario were partly offset by declines in most other provinces, particularly British Columbia. Since January, payroll employment, at the Canada level, has increased by 138,000, due mainly to gains in accommodation, food and beverage services, manufacturing and wholesale trade.
The Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH) is in the final phase of a major, multi-year re-engineering project to improve estimates of the level of business payrolls and paid employment, and to reduce reporting burden on businesses. With the change in methodology, there is a risk that employment estimates from the administrative records may show a different seasonal pattern than the previous questionnaire data, which can only be assessed within the context of a longer time period. Statistics Canada continues to monitor these impacts and will help users interpret its data. To minimize impacts, it is recommended that SEPH data, particularly employment data, be used in the context of longer time periods or for detailed industry distributions.
Available on CANSIM: matrices 4285-4466, 9438-9452, 9639-9664 and 9899-9911.
Detailed industry data and other labour market indicators are available through standard tables in the monthly publication Employment, earnings and hours (72-002-XPB, $32/$320), the historical publication Annual estimates of employment, earnings and hours, 1983-1995 (diskette: 72F0002XDE, $120) and by custom tabulations. See How to order publications .
For further information on this release, contact Stephen Johnson (613-951-4090; fax: 613-951-4087; Internet: labour@statcan.gc.ca), Labour Division.
Table: Number of employees
______________________________________________________________________________
Industry group (1980 March 1997 April 1997(r) May 1997(p)
SIC)
______________________________________________________________________________
Seasonally adjusted
_______________________________________________
'000
_______________________________________________
Industrial aggregate 11,203 11,217 11,225
Logging and forestry 67 66 64
Mining, quarrying and
oil wells 140 142 142
Manufacturing 1,789 1,787 1,789
Construction 476 471 465
Transportation,
communications and
other utilities 852 851 849
Wholesale trade 693 702 701
Retail trade 1,395 1,391 1,398
Finance, insurance and
real estate 697 695 696
Business services 717 725 724
Education-related
services 938 936 943
Health and social
services 1,201 1,204 1,210
Accommodation, food
and beverage services 813 824 831
Public administration 680 683 682
Provinces and
territories
Newfoundland 142 143 141
Prince Edward Island 45 46 44
Nova Scotia 310 309 309
New Brunswick 246 246 244
Quebec 2,679 2,674 2,678
Ontario 4,399 4,408 4,431
Manitoba 423 421 421
Saskatchewan 330 334 330
Alberta 1,140 1,136 1,133
British Columbia 1,453 1,454 1,443
Yukon 14 14 14
Northwest Territories 25 25 25
______________________________________________________________________________
Industry group (1980 March to April to May
SIC) April 1997 1997
______________________________________________________________________________
Seasonally adjusted
______________________________
% change
______________________________
Industrial aggregate 0.1 0.1
Logging and forestry -1.5 -3.0
Mining, quarrying and
oil wells 1.4 0.0
Manufacturing -0.1 0.1
Construction -1.1 -1.3
Transportation,
communications and
other utilities -0.1 -0.2
Wholesale trade 1.3 -0.1
Retail trade -0.3 0.5
Finance, insurance and
real estate -0.3 0.1
Business services 1.1 -0.1
Education-related
services -0.2 0.7
Health and social
services 0.2 0.5
Accommodation, food
and beverage services 1.4 0.8
Public administration 0.4 -0.1
Provinces and
territories
Newfoundland 0.7 -1.4
Prince Edward Island 2.2 -4.3
Nova Scotia -0.3 0.0
New Brunswick 0.0 -0.8
Quebec -0.2 0.1
Ontario 0.2 0.5
Manitoba -0.5 0.0
Saskatchewan 1.2 -1.2
Alberta -0.4 -0.3
British Columbia 0.1 -0.8
Yukon 0.0 0.0
Northwest Territories 0.0 0.0
______________________________________________________________________________
(r) Revised estimates.
(p) Preliminary estimates.
Table: Average weekly earnings for all employees
______________________________________________________________________________
Industry group (1980 May 1996 April 1997(r) May 1997(p)
SIC)
______________________________________________________________________________
Seasonally adjusted
_______________________________________________
$
_______________________________________________
Industrial aggregate 586.91 599.94 604.56
Logging and forestry 760.21 799.05 840.72
Mining, quarrying and
oil wells 1,050.37 1,057.23 1,064.22
Manufacturing 707.04 737.72 755.19
Construction 708.86 705.68 722.86
Transportation,
communications and
other utilities 741.72 751.78 757.38
Wholesale trade 625.58 638.47 652.65
Retail trade 348.47 360.00 359.89
Finance, insurance and
real estate 713.34 735.24 736.79
Business services 653.10 694.47 709.00
Education-related
services 679.32 671.69 668.60
Health and social
services 509.30 514.24 513.37
Accommodation, food
and beverage services 238.96 239.66 242.01
Public administration 735.27 748.32 752.16
Provinces and
territories
Newfoundland 529.62 524.93 538.78
Prince Edward Island 497.71 490.86 501.25
Nova Scotia 499.18 501.21 503.66
New Brunswick 513.35 519.75 530.08
Quebec 555.74 562.41 572.95
Ontario 626.83 639.71 643.53
Manitoba 519.43 527.57 529.85
Saskatchewan 517.30 532.13 532.56
Alberta 572.27 609.08 604.23
British Columbia 599.74 615.50 618.07
Yukon 676.95 719.02 692.14
Northwest Territories 715.65 720.36 739.68
______________________________________________________________________________
Industry group (1980 April 1997 May 1996 to
SIC) to May 1997 May 1997
______________________________________________________________________________
Seasonally adjusted
______________________________
% change
______________________________
Industrial aggregate 0.8 3.0
Logging and forestry 5.2 10.6
Mining, quarrying and
oil wells 0.7 1.3
Manufacturing 2.4 6.8
Construction 2.4 2.0
Transportation,
communications and
other utilities 0.7 2.1
Wholesale trade 2.2 4.3
Retail trade 0.0 3.3
Finance, insurance and
real estate 0.2 3.3
Business services 2.1 8.6
Education-related
services -0.5 -1.6
Health and social
services -0.2 0.8
Accommodation, food
and beverage services 1.0 1.3
Public administration 0.5 2.3
Provinces and
territories
Newfoundland 2.6 1.7
Prince Edward Island 2.1 0.7
Nova Scotia 0.5 0.9
New Brunswick 2.0 3.3
Quebec 1.9 3.1
Ontario 0.6 2.7
Manitoba 0.4 2.0
Saskatchewan 0.1 2.9
Alberta -0.8 5.6
British Columbia 0.4 3.1
Yukon -3.7 2.2
Northwest Territories 2.7 3.4
______________________________________________________________________________
(r) Revised estimates.
(p) Preliminary estimates.
1997
By the end of 1997, there will be $1.8 trillion in structures and equipment being used to produce goods and services in the economy. This amounts to more than $125,000 of capital resources per person at work.
This capital endowment of employees has increased by about 60% since the mid-1970s. The strong increase in assets has been especially notable in machinery and equipment, indicating that the economy has been incorporating the latest technological innovations at a rapid rate. The drive by industries to become more productive and competitive in the global economy lies behind this rapid buildup of assets.
The increase in structures and equipment means that the production capacity of the economy has grown, which helps create a non-inflationary environment.
Note: Fixed assets are the structures and equipment in production in the economy. The estimates take into account annual capital expenditures and the life expectancy and cost of the various assets. The estimates in this release are valued at 1986 prices.
Table: Fixed assets
1997
______________________________________________________________________________
Building and Machinery Total
engineering and equipment
structures
______________________________________________________________________________
$ billions (1986 constant dollars)
_______________________________________________
Total 1,120.3 641.5 1,761.8
Agriculture, fishing,
forestry and mining 159.6 28.0 187.6
Manufacturing 75.4 171.7 247.1
Construction 5.5 15.7 21.2
Transportation and
utilities 319.0 180.0 499.0
Trade 26.7 39.2 65.8
Finance, insurance and
real estate 113.3 88.5 201.8
Business services,
accommodation and
other services 32.4 58.8 91.1
Government departments 288.0 37.5 325.5
Education 65.5 10.5 75.9
Health and social
services 35.0 11.8 46.8
______________________________________________________________________________
Note: Figures may not add to totals due to rounding.
Available on CANSIM: matrices 8500-8587, 8678-8681 (Canada, current dollars) and 8590-8677, 8682-8685 (Canada, constant dollars).
For further information on this release, contact Flo Magmanlac (613-951-2765). For analytical information, contact Susanna Wood (613-951-0655), Investment and Capital Stock Division.
May 1997
Both Air Canada and Canadian Airlines International Ltd. reported increases in passenger-kilometres flown (seasonally adjusted data) on their international (scheduled and charter) routes in May. Compared with April, production was up at both Air Canada (+4%) and Canadian Airlines International Ltd. (+7%).
Available on CANSIM: matrix 385.
Civil aviation data (operational) for Air Canada and Canadian Airlines International Ltd. for May will be published in the August issue of the Aviation service bulletin (51-004-XPB, $11/$109). See How to order publications.
For further information on this release, contact Robert Lund (819-997-6188), Aviation Statistics Centre, Transportation Division.
1997 (preliminary)
Data for the 1997 potato area are now available by province.
Available on CANSIM: matrix 1044.
These data are available in Canadian potato production (22-008-UPB, $21).
For further information on this release or to order the report, contact Barb McLaughlin, (902-893-7251) or Mark Elward, (613-951-8715), Agriculture Division.
Infomat - a weekly review, week ending July 25, 1997
Catalogue number 11-002-XPE
(Canada: $4/$145; outside Canada: US$4/US$145).
Production and disposition of tobacco products,
June 1997
Catalogue number 32-022-XPB
(Canada: $7/$62; outside Canada: US$7/US$62).
Gas utilities, April 1997
Catalogue number 55-002-XPB
(Canada: $17/$165; outside Canada: US$17/US$165).
Imports by commodity, May 1997 (microfiche version)
Catalogue number 65-007-XMB
(Canada: $37/$361; outside Canada: US$37/US$361).
Imports by commodity, May 1997 (paper version)
Catalogue number 65-007-XPB
(Canada: $78/$773; outside Canada: US$78/US$773).
Canada's international transactions in securities,
April 1997
Catalogue number 67-002-XPB
(Canada: $18/$176; outside Canada: US$18/US$176).
All prices exclude sales tax.
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RELEASE DATES
July 28 - August 1
______________________________________________________________________________
Release date Title Reference period
______________________________________________________________________________
28 Breast cancer mortality and mammography 1990 - 1995
29 Industrial Product Price Index June 1997
29 Raw Materials Price Index June 1997
29 Age and sex 1996 Census
30 Crime statistics 1996
30 Homicide in Canada 1996
31 Real gross domestic product at factor May 1997
cost by industry
31 Family income 1995
August 1 Business Conditions Survey, Canadian July 1997
manufacturing industries
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