Earnings from employment in Alberta have posted their strongest increase in a decade. At $1,328, average weekly earnings (AWE) were 3.5% higher last year. The growth was an improvement over the 2.1% increase in 2023 and the first time AWE have grown faster than the provincial inflation rate since 2020 (and only the second time they have outpaced inflation since 2014).

Oil and gas extraction jobs paid the most with AWE last year of $2,970 (up 2.3% from 2023) while accommodations and food services had the lowest AWE at $509 (down 0.5% from 2023).

The largest percentage increase in AWE occurred in the management of companies* sector where earnings rose by 10.3% to $2,171, and the arts, entertainment and recreation sector where earnings also rose by 10.3% to reach $733.

Accommodation and food services was the only sector to post a decline in AWE.

Nationally, AWE rose by 4.6% to $1,260. The increase was higher than in 2023 when AWE went up by 3.4%.

Up by 5.7%, the largest increase took place in P.E.I. with Alberta’s 3.5% rise the smallest among the provinces.

AWE in Alberta remained above the national average for the 27th straight year, but the gap (+5.4%) was at its smallest point since 2004 (+4.3%) and well below the peak reached in 2014 (+22.7%). AWE in Alberta have not been below the national average since 1997 (-0.9%).

*There were 15,138 employees working in this sector in Alberta last year (0.7% of the total number of employees in the province). It includes operations such as holding companies, corporate head offices, and regional offices.

Answer to the previous trivia question: It was Benjamin Franklin who wrote: Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.

Today’s trivia question: In what year did the first duty free store open at Ireland’s Shannon International Airport?