BCPB Home > Benchmarks > Rankings > Performance Indicator 1: Hourly Wage

Performance Indicator 1: Hourly Wage

Where BC Ranks, Provincial Comparison

  
Year

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Rank

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

2

Performance Indicator One follows the inflation-adjusted average hourly wage rate. As this indicator is ranked from the worker's perspective, a higher wage earns a better rank.

In 2008, BC overtook Ontario to rank second in real average hourly wage. BC was third between 1998 and 2007. Alberta was second from 1998 through 2004 but overtook Ontario at first in 2005.

The real average hourly wage increased by five percent between 1999 and 2008 in BC, earning a fourth-place ranking for improvement among the provinces. The wage rate grew in every province except Ontario and Nova Scotia over this period.

British Columbia's wage deteriorated from the highest in 1990 to third in the late 1990s and much of this decade. Growth since 2004 has brought it up to its highest level in 19 years.

Why It's Important
Real average hourly wages are a useful measure of individual prosperity. Flat real wages indicate that wages are simply keeping up with increases in living expenses.

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