By Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald February 24, 2011

Average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees fell in Alberta in December but remained the highest in the country, according to Statistics Canada.

The federal agency reported Thursday that average weekly earnings in the province were $1,000.85, down 1.3 per cent from November but also 5.4 per cent higher than they were in December 2009.

Rising wages in the province are largely the result of an improving economy, said Todd Hirsch, senior economist with ATB Financial, in a research note.

"Certain industries and regions in Alberta are already reporting shortages of labour, which will naturally tend to push earnings higher as companies compete for workers," he said.

Some of the highest earnings nationally are in mining and oil and gas extraction ($1,678/week, up 5.5 per cent year-over-year) and professional, scientific and technical services ($1,262/week, up 8.5 per cent year-over-year), he added.

"Alberta has a large share of both of these industry employees. With oil prices soaring, weekly earnings could be in for even greater increases in 2011," said Hirsch.

Nationally, average weekly earnings rose by 0.8 per cent on a monthly basis and by 4.5 per cent on a year-over-year basis to $872.12.

The number of employees rose in Alberta to nearly 1.8 million, up 0.7 per cent from November and 3.3 per cent from December 2009.

Across Canada, the number of employees rose to 14.83 million, an increase of 0.3 per cent on a monthly basis and a hike of 2.0 per cent on an annual basis.

Statistics Canada said December marked the fifth consecutive month during which year-over-year growth was above 4.0 per cent in Canada.

Average weekly earnings increased in every province. Growth was above the national average in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Quebec. New Brunswick and British Columbia had the slowest growth, said the federal agency.