Albertans' earnings fall but remain highest of all provinces
Robson Fletcher | CBC News | Posted: December 21, 2016 4:08 PM | Last Updated: December 21, 2016
People here still make 16% more money, on average, than Canadians as a whole
Albertans make less money than they did a year ago, but still more than people in every other province.
Average weekly earnings in Alberta dipped to $1,106 in October, down 2.6 per cent from a year earlier, according to data released Wednesday by Statistics Canada.
- Alberta's 'bittersweet' recovery: Don't expect a job surge soon, TD warns
- Albertans plan to spend and travel even less this holiday season: ATB
Alberta was the only province to see a decline in earnings in October, but workers here still make more than in any other province by a substantial margin.
The next closest province is Newfoundland and Labrador at $1,022. The Canadian average is $954.
Click on this interactive graph to see average weekly earnings by province in October 2016 and the percentage change from October 2015:
Alberta's decline was largely due to reduced earnings in construction, transportation and warehousing, manufacturing, and the professional, scientific and technical service sectors, according to Statistics Canada.
After more than a decade of relatively steady growth, Alberta's average weekly earnings peaked at $1,172 in January 2015 and have been on a downward trend since then.
Earnings of Canadians, as a whole, have also grown since 2001 but at a slower pace. That growth has flattened out over the past year and a half.
This graph shows average weekly earnings in Alberta and Canada over the past 15 years: