Albertans work harder, longer, report says
OTTAWA — A new report says Alberta and Nunavut experienced the strongest growth in hours worked between 2000 and 2005, while the Northwest Territories and Newfoundland and Labrador registered the highest gains in labour productivity.
The Statistics Canada report says hours worked in Canada grew an average of 1.5 per cent a year over the period, due partly to a 44 per cent growth in hours worked in the construction, retail trade, finance and insurance sectors; that’s equivalent to some 120,000 jobs annually.
The country as a whole averaged 1.1 per cent labour growth over the same period.
Construction hours ranked No. 1 in Alberta, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island and the Yukon; second in Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador, and third in Nova Scotia and Quebec.
Retail trade was the prime contributor to the growth in hours worked in Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec; it stood second in New Brunswick and the three Prairie provinces, and third in Ontario and the Yukon.
Hours worked in three other industries — administrative and support services; professional, scientific and technical services; and health care and social assistance — also grew substantially over the period, averaging more than 127 million hours a year, equivalent to 76,000 jobs annually.
Agriculture continued its downward trend with an average loss exceeding 8,000 jobs a year, or nearly 18 million hours, with losses particularly severe in Prince Edward Island and the Prairies.