Wages rose 0.8 per cent in last year: StatsCan
Public sector employment was up 17,000 or 0.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2011, for a total of 3.6 million, according to Statistics Canada.
Federal general government employment rose by 24,000 (5.6 per cent), partly because of temporary workers hired for the census program. This employment growth was spread among all provinces.
Public sector employees represented 20.4 per cent of total employment in Canada in the second quarter, a proportion unchanged since the same quarter one year ago, said Statistics Canada.
Between the second quarter of 2010 and the second quarter of 2011, total public sector wages and salaries rose 0.8 per cent.
The three levels of general government (federal, provincial and territorial, and local) accounted for 38.8 per cent of total public sector employment in the second quarter. Educational institutions represented 29.1 per cent, followed by health and social service institutions (23.5 per cent) and government business enterprises (8.7 per cent).
Employment in the health and social services institutions sector increased 0.4 per cent from the first quarter), said Statistics Canada. Employment in this sector has been growing steadily since the first quarter of 2005. Other increases were measured in provincial general government (0.3 per cent), local general government (0.4 per cent) and government business enterprises (0.7 per cent.
Employment in universities and colleges fell 1.6 per cent. This was the second consecutive quarterly decline for this sector and is in contrast to the upward trend that has characterized this sector since 2005.
