Labour cost increases are showing the impact of the recession – although again the effect isn't hitting government employees as hard as everyone else.The Labour Costs Index released this morning shows a 0.3% increase in wages and salaries for the Ma
Labour cost increases are showing the impact of the recession – although again the effect isn’t hitting government employees as hard as everyone else.
The Labour Costs Index released this morning shows a 0.3% increase in wages and salaries for the March quarter (bang on economist expectations), taking the 12 month figure to 1.5%. Private sector wages – the part most closely watched by economists – showed a 0.3% increase for the quarter and 1.3% for the year.
The annual increase is the lowest since September 2000.
For the public sector, the annual increase is 2.3%. Although higher than the private sector figure, it is the lowest annual increase in public sector wages since June 2002. Much of this continued increase in public sector wages is because of a series of multi-year agreements entered into by public sector unions in the run up to the 2008 election.
Within the private sector, the largest quarterly increases were in non-metallic mineral manufacturing and transport and machinery manufacturing, both up 0.6%.
For the year the largest increases were in the education sector – up 3.2% - and health and community services - up 2.6%.
