Canadian payroll earnings up in May

The average weekly earnings of Canadian payroll employees in May, including overtime, was $820.38, up 1.6 percent from a year earlier, Statistics Canada said.

The annual increase in non-farm pay was faster than the growth in average weekly earnings was considerably slower than the most recent year-over-year peak increase of 3 percent in October 2008, the report said.

Average weekly earnings fell 6.1 percent in manufacturing and 1.9 percent in educational services month-over month, but

Between May 2008 and May 2009, average earnings were up 8.6 percent in health care and social assistance, 3.9 percent in retail trade, 2.4 percent in accommodation and food services, and 1.3 percent in public administration, StatsCan said.

Regionally, Alberta’s 5.5 gain in average weekly income led the country, while Quebec experienced a 0.8 percent decline from a year earlier, the report said.