Average weekly earnings growth lowest since 2022
Average weekly ordinary time earnings for full-time adults were $2,083.70 in May 2026, according to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Sean Crick, ABS head of labour statistics, said: “Growth in average weekly earnings for full-time adults for the six months to May 2026 was 1.6 per cent. This was the lowest six-monthly growth since May 2022.
“Annual growth to May 2026 was 3.7 per cent which was the lowest annual increase since November 2022.”
Public sector growth was stronger than in the private sector in the six months to May 2026.
“Public sector average weekly earnings rose by 2.3 per cent while the private sector rose by 1.4 per cent,” said Mr Crick.
All states and industries recorded six monthly rises in average earnings.
The industry with the strongest growth was Transport, postal and warehousing (4.3 per cent) followed by Wholesale trade (3.2 per cent).
Queensland had the largest growth of all the states of 2.5 per cent. This was followed by the Northern Territory, which rose by 2.2 per cent.
The gender pay gap in average weekly ordinary full-time earnings fell to its lowest recorded point of 11.3 per cent, down from 11.5 per cent in November 2025.
The gender pay gap in average weekly ordinary full-time earnings is the most commonly cited of the gender pay gap measures.
Find more data on our Average Weekly Earnings release page.
The ABS thanks businesses in Australia for their continued support in responding to our surveys.
Media notes
- Percentage movements in average weekly earnings can be affected by changes in both the level of earnings per employee and in the composition of employment. Factors that can contribute to compositional change include variations in the proportion of full-time, part-time, casual and junior employees; variations in the occupational distribution within and across industries; and variations in the distribution of employment between industries.
- Average weekly earnings statistics provide insights into weekly earnings for males and females, including information by industry, sector, and state/territory of work. They are one of the best sources of information for measuring weekly earnings differences between males and females in Australia and complement a range of other related statistics produced by the ABS (e.g. Employee Earnings and Hours and Characteristics of Employment) and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency.
- An alternative source for estimates of movements in earnings (wages growth) is the quarterly Wage Price Index (WPI). Unlike AWE, the WPI is designed to measure the change over time in the price of wages and salaries (i.e. a pure price change, unaffected by the changes in the quality or quantity of work performed or the composition of the workforce). WPI is produced on a quarterly basis.
- Estimates of percentage change have been calculated using unrounded estimates and may be different from, but are more accurate than, movements obtained from calculating percentage changes using the rounded estimates presented in this publication.
- Data in this media release refer to seasonally adjusted data for all series excluding industry data, which are original estimates.
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