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February 29, 2024COMPENSATION OF EMPLOYEES, Q4 AND ANNUAL 2023 Quarter-over-quarter (Q4 2023 vs Q3 2023, seasonally adjusted)
Total compensation of employees for all industries increased by 2.1% in Nova Scotia, fastest growing among provinces, rising to $7.99 billion in Q4 2023. National employee compensation was up 0.8% in the fourth quarter of 2023. All provinces recorded quarter over quarter with gains in Q4 2023. The slowest growth in employee compensation were in Prince Edward Island and Québec.
Annual (2023 vs 2022)
Nova Scotia's employee compensation for all industries was up 8.0% in 2023 when compared to 2022. National employee compensation grew 6.5%. All provinces recorded year-over-year gains in employee compensation during 2023. The fastest increase was reported in Prince Edward Island, while the slowest rise was in Saskatchewan.
Annual growth in total wages and salaries by industry show that the strongest contributions to rising payrolls came from the professional and personal services industries followed by health care/social assistance (which includes daycare). Wage and salary totals were down only for mining, oil and gas industries.
In percentage terms, manufacturing and construction sectors posted the largest gains during 2023 in Nova Scotia. Military wages and salaries were also up based on a large payment in June 2023 (military wages sometimes report large payments isolated to a single month).
Note that changes in employee compensation reflect changes in wages and salaries as well as changes in contributions to social insurance. Changes in wages and salaries include the effects of changing numbers of employees, changing hours worked and wage rates as well as effects from differences in pay period from one year to the next.
Trends
In each of June 2022 and June 2023, there were spikes in employee compensation, followed by corrections. After the June 2023 spike (associated with an extraordinary payment in military wages and salaries), growth in Nova Scotia employee compensation resumed growing in line with trends.
Year-over-year (December 2023 vs. December 2022)
On a year-over-year basis, growth in employee compensation increased 7.4% (December 2023 vs December 2022). Part of this reflects a longer period of decline in employee compensation that followed the June 2022 peak, lasting until September 2022. Compared against this recent trough, December 2023 employee compensation has grown more rapidly on a year-over-year basis.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 36-10-0205-01 Wages, salaries and employers' social contributions (x 1,000)
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