The ABS has released its quarterly Wage Price Index and it’s come off again, actually below inflation:
SEPTEMBER KEY POINTS
TOTAL HOURLY RATES OF PAY EXCLUDING BONUSES
QUARTERLY CHANGE (JUN QTR 2013 TO SEP QTR 2013)
The trend index for Australia rose 0.6% in the September quarter 2013.
In seasonally adjusted terms, both the Private and Public sector wage price indexes rose 0.5% in the September quarter 2013.
The rises in original indexes at the industry level in the September quarter 2013 ranged from 0.2% for Financial and insurance services to 1.6% for Public administration and safety.
ANNUAL CHANGE (SEP QTR 2012 TO SEP QTR 2013)
The trend index for Australia rose 2.6% through the year to the September quarter 2013, and the seasonally adjusted index rose 2.7%.
Rises in the original indexes through the year to the September quarter 2013 at the industry level ranged from 1.9% for Professional, scientific and technical services to 3.4% for Electricity, gas, water and waste services.
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific's leading geo-politics and economics portal.
He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.
