| Year | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Index of real GDP (2015 = 100) | 94.1 | 96.5 | 98.9 | 100.0 | 101.2 | 103.4 | 105.1 |
| Employment (millions) | 17.45 | 17.68 | 17.82 | 18.01 | 18.15 | 18.42 | 18.63 |
Following the global commodity price drop of 2014/2015, the Canadian economy struggled to maintain its previous rapid pace of expansion. While export sectors slowly adjusted to a weaker Canadian dollar, overall GDP growth in 2016 stayed modest at just 1.0%. Over the same period, employment growth slowed, leaving pockets of structural unemployment in resource-dependent provinces.
Simultaneously, fiscal measures aimed at balancing provincial budgets led to public sector spending constraints, which weighed on domestic demand. However, the most significant drag on sluggish consumer spending was the erosion of household purchasing power. During 2016, average nominal weekly earnings rose by only 1.2%, whilst the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate of inflation stood at 1.9%. This resulted in a fall in real wages for the average worker, marking one of the tightest squeezes on household budgets in a decade.
Define the term 'real wages' (Extract B, paragraph 2).
