A measure of average total hourly earnings rose just 1.3 percent in the year to September, the lowest annual increase in 16 years.The quarterly employment survey (QES), published today by Statistics New Zealand (SNZ), also showed total paid hours and full
A measure of average total hourly earnings rose just 1.3 percent in the year to September, the lowest annual increase in 16 years.
The quarterly employment survey (QES), published today by Statistics New Zealand (SNZ), also showed total paid hours and full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) increased 2.4 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively, during the year. Filled jobs were up 0.7 percent over the year but down 1 percent from the previous quarter.
In seasonally adjusted terms, total gross earnings increased 0.8 percent for the September quarter, while total paid hours increased 0.2 percent.
Also published today, the labour cost index (LCI), showed salary and wage rates, including overtime, rose 1.6 percent in the year to the September. That is the same as the movement in the year to the June quarter.
Annual labour cost index wage growth declined from a peak of 4 percent in the year to September 2008 to 1.5 percent in the year to the March 2010 quarter, SNZ said.
Salary and wage rates for the private sector rose 1.6 percent in the year to September, while the 1.3 percent increase for the public sector was the lowest annual movement since a 1.2 percent rise in 1999.
In the September quarter, salary and wage rates measured by the LCI rose 0.5 percent, with private sector salary and wage rates up 0.5 percent and public sector rates up 0.3 percent.
The QES average earnings statistics reflect not only changes in wages and salaries, but also compositional and other changes in the paid workforce. In contrast, the LCI measures changes in salary and wage rates for a fixed quantity and quality of labour input.
