Performance Indicator 1: Hourly Wage
Where BC Ranks, Provincial Comparison |
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| 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. BC ranked second in 2010 in real average hourly wage, a position it overtook from Ontario in 2008. |
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| In 1990, BC ranked first in the country with a wage of $17.6. Decreases in seven of the next 12 years brought the wage down to $16.9 in 2002 and cost BC two ranks. Seven years of increases produced 2009’s $18.4 average wage and improved BC’s rank by one position. A four cent drop in 2010 did not change BC’s second-place rank. |
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| BC’s average wage stays close to the national average, not having been more than five percent above it in any year back to 1990. |
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Best and Worst Performers |
| The gap between the highest and lowest wage provinces has ranged from a low of $3.50 in 2004 to a high of $5.80 in 1994 and was $4.80 in 2010. |
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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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