6345.0 - Labour Price Index, Australia, Jun 2005  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 17/08/2005   
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JUNE KEY FIGURES

Mar Qtr 2005 to Jun Qtr 2005
Jun Qtr 2004 to Jun Qtr 2005
% change
% change

Wage Price Index (WPI)
Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses
Seasonally Adjusted
Australia
1.1
4.0
Sector
Private
1.1
3.8
Public
1.0
4.7
Original
Australia
0.7
4.1
Sector
Private
0.9
4.0
Public
0.5
4.7

WPI-Quarterly changes, Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses
Graph: Wage Price Index quarterly changes - Seasonally adjusted and original

WPI-Annual change: original, Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses - For selected industries
Graph: Wage Price Index annual changes - Selected industries



JUNE KEY POINTS


TOTAL HOURLY RATES OF PAY EXCLUDING BONUSES

QUARTERLY CHANGES (MAR QTR 2005 TO JUN QTR 2005)

  • The index for all employee jobs in Australia increased by 1.1%, seasonally adjusted.
  • The increases in the indexes (in original terms) at the industry level ranged from 0.0% for Communication services to 1.5% for Finance and insurance.
  • The increases in the indexes (in original terms) at the occupation level ranged from 0.5% for Intermediate clerical, sales and service workers and Elementary clerical, sales and service workers to 1.0% for Managers and administrators and Tradespersons and related workers.

ANNUAL CHANGES (JUN QTR 2004 TO JUN QTR 2005)
  • The seasonally adjusted increase through the year to June 2005 for all employee jobs in Australia was 4.0% (in trend terms, also 4.0%).
  • Increases in the original indexes through the year to June 2005 at the industry level ranged from 3.1% for Transport and storage to 5.7% for Education, compared with 4.1% for all industries.


NOTES

ABS DATA AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

Original indexes are compiled for various combinations of state/territory, sector (private/public), broad industry group and broad occupation group. Seasonally adjusted and trend indexes are only compiled for total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses for the private sector, public sector and all sectors. Indexes not included in this publication may be made available on request by telephoning Perth (08) 9360 5151.



FURTHER INFORMATION

More detailed information on the Labour Price Index (LPI) is available in Information Paper: Labour Price Index, Australia 2004 (cat. no. 6363.0) and Labour Price Index, Concepts, Sources and Methods, Australia (cat. no. 6351.0.55.001).



INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Tim Landrigan on Perth (08) 9360 5151.



COMMENTARY


GENERAL

The seasonally adjusted change in the wage price index (WPI) for Australia through to June quarter 2005 was 4.0% compared with 3.6% through the year to June quarter 2004. The seasonally adjusted change for the June quarter 2005 was 1.1%, the same as for the March quarter 2005.



INDUSTRY/OCCUPATION

In original terms, Education recorded an increase of 5.7% through the year to June quarter 2005, the highest change in any industry. Other industries with strong wages growth over this period were Government administration and defence (4.9%), Construction (4.9%), and Mining (4.8%). There appears to be strong demand for skilled labour in both Construction and Mining with a number of respondents to the survey reporting they are paying additional wage increases to retain quality staff. Amongst the broad occupation groups, Tradespersons and related workers recorded the highest increase (4.5%) through the year to June quarter 2005, followed closely by Professionals (4.4%).



SECTOR

The Private sector seasonally adjusted change through the year to June quarter 2005 was 3.8%, compared with 4.7% for the Public sector. The seasonally adjusted movement for the June quarter was 1.1% for the Private sector compared with the March quarter 2005 movement of 1.0% and 1.0% for the Public sector (down from the March quarter movement of 1.2%).



SAFETY NET REVIEW (SNR)

The Australian Industrial Relations Commission handed down its 2005 SNR decision on 7 June 2005. It awarded a $17 a week increase to full-time workers employed under federal awards. The $17 increase equates to a rise of 3.6% for those jobs paid minimum award rates (i.e. an increase to $484.40 per 38 hour week).


The decision was handed down after the labour price index survey reference date of the pay period ending on or before 20 May. As a result the SNR has had little effect on the June quarter WPI. The flow on into the WPI is expected to occur in the September and December quarters.