Wages in Alberta ticked up again but only just. Alberta’s average weekly earnings were 2.1% higher in January relative to a year ago.

Goods sectors remained at the forefront led by construction, which posted strong increases for the fourth consecutive month in January. Meanwhile, earnings in services-producing industries were practically unchanged from a year ago.

Wages, however, are not keeping up with consumer prices. On an inflation-adjusted (real) basis, average weekly earnings in Alberta were down 2.6% from January 2021. On the bright side, wages have finally managed to surpass their pre-pandemic level set in February 2020.

The story was somewhat similar nationally. Canada’s real average weekly earnings stood 2.5% below last January, but were 4.3% above their pre-pandemic level.  

With inflation at nearly 6% in February, we expect the real wages picture to stay mostly the same in the next report.

Answer to the previous trivia question: The first U.S. Commissioner of Internal Revenue was appointed in 1862.

Today’s trivia question: What was the hourly wage of a machinist in 1937?