Slow growth in labour earnings likely to persist

Recent headline employment gains, mainly in full-time work, have been impressive. It turns out that most of the job creation over the past year have been in industries where hours worked are below-average, however, while jobs in industries with above-average hours worked have disappeared. That stagnation in total hours worked, combined with the modest growth in hourly earnings, explain the slow growth in labour earnings lately. The labour market has churned out some impressive employment gains lately, with the six-month average rising to 36,500 in February, of which most have been full-time positions.