Booming National Economy? Or Maybe Not.

Why Aren't Wages Rising (Except for The West)?

The media is reporting boom times in Canda. The economy is at "full utilization," according to the Bank of Canada. And unemployment overall is at a supposed 30 year low.

So then...why aren't wages rising accordingly? You'd think with this kind of positive situation there'd be signing bonuses and semi-annual raises for all. Except that, outside of Alberta, this just isn't the case.

That's because the reality is somewhat different than what the basic statistics tell us. The fact is that many of the jobs being created nowadays are at the lower levels of pay, are contingent (e.g. non-permanent), and employers are reluctant to build top heavy staffing loads. Especially when the U.S. of A. is teetering on the brink of a,
well, let's call it a fiscal re-adjustment.

Let's just hope that Canada's oil and mineral boom, limited mainly to Alberta and now of the Eastern coast, spills over to the rest of us (figuratively, not literally).