Canadians earned $1,253 per week on average in June – a figure consistent with months prior, but still four per cent higher than the same time last year, Statistics Canada reported Thursday.
The agency did not provide data on the median earnings that month. An average, or mean, is calculated by adding up all data, then dividing by the total number of quantities, meaning it can be impacted by outliers, such as especially high or low earners.
StatCan’s earnings portrait comes as Canadians manoeuver through a complex economic context. While the rise of inflation has slowed in recent months, triggering the Bank of Canada to lower interest rates and provide some relief to Canadians struggling with the cost of living, year-over-year gas prices were up last month, and home purchasing remains out of reach for many. StatCan data reveals the ratio of unemployed people to vacant positions has widened again.
Certain industries saw more significant increases in weekly wages than others. Mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction employees made $168 more than June of last year on average, for a total of $2,265.69 per week – the highest seasonally-adjusted weekly wage identified by StatCan. Workers in information and cultural industries made $150 more per week ($1,645 per week, and wholesale workers made $111 more ($1,412 per week).
People on average worked about 33.5 hours each week, consistent with last month and 0.6 per cent higher year-over-year.
Meanwhile, there were 2.6 unemployed people for each vacant job, slightly higher than the month before. That ratio has widened for five months in a row, and has generally done so since July 2022. At that time, the ratio was one to one.
Vacancies increased in a handful of sectors:
- Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services, 16 per cent increase;
- Transportation and warehousing, 12.4 per cent increase;
- Education services, 16.3 per cent;
- Information and cultural industries, 54.6 per cent increase; and
- Arts, entertainment and recreation, 16.3 per cent increase.
The following industries saw fewer vacancies in June:
- Accommodation and food services, 10.8 per cent decrease; and
- Finance and insurance, 20.9 per cent decrease.
Due to those shifts, the overall vacancy rate was unchanged in June, compared to May.