Alberta weekly earnings fell 3.4% in February but still lead the country

Alberta saw the largest drop in average weekly earningsbut still leads the country in that economic indicator, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.

Earnings in Alberta fell3.4 per centto $1,118.48 in February, continuing a downward trend that began last summer.

That still puts Alberta ahead of every other province, where average weekly earningsranged from $808.83 in Prince Edward Island to $1,012.09 in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Click on this interactive graph to see average earnings and how they changed, by province:

The Canadian averagerose 0.4 per cent in February to$953.75.

Aside from Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador was the only province to see earnings decline in February, but they only fell by 0.4 per cent.

Statistics Canada said Alberta's marked decline was mainly due to "employment losses in the high-earning mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction sector."

"Earnings in the professional, scientific and technical services sector also declined markedly compared with February2015," the federal agency noted.

The number of payroll employees in Alberta'smining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction sectors fell to 104,472, the lowest level since June 2010.

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