After falling in January, seasonally adjusted payroll employment* in Alberta increased by 1.1 per cent (19,602 jobs) in February.

The number of employee positions was, however, down by 8.5 per cent (169,917) compared to February 2021.

Nationally, the number of payroll positions barely budged in February, rising by just 0.3 per cent (43,385) above January’s total.

The number of payroll jobs in the country is still almost 1.2 million short (6.8 per cent) of where it was in February 2020.

On a month-over-month basis, the average weekly earnings of employees in Alberta stayed about the same, but were up by 5.3 per cent compared to February 2020. The increase is due in part to higher job losses among lower paid workers pushing up the average.

It was a similar story for the country as a whole, with average weekly earnings rising by only 0.7 per cent month-over-month, but up by 9.0 per cent compared to 12 months earlier.

*Payroll employment, as measured by Statistics Canada’s Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours, refers to the number of employees receiving pay or benefits (employment income) during a given month. The survey excludes the self-employed, owners and partners of unincorporated businesses and professional practices and employees in the agricultural sector.

Answer to the previous trivia question: According to the Bank of Canada, the interest paid on a standard savings account at a chartered bank peaked at 19 per cent in August and September 1981.

Today’s trivia question: What portion of payroll employees in Alberta work for goods producing industries?