The labour market remains flat – wage and salary increases were 0.4% in the December quarter and 1.8% for the year, the lowest increase since June 2001.The result was broadly in line with market expectations.The figures, contained in Statistics New
The labour market remains flat – wage and salary increases were 0.4% in the December quarter and 1.8% for the year, the lowest increase since June 2001.
The result was broadly in line with market expectations.
The figures, contained in Statistics New Zealand’s Labour Cost Index, show both public and private sector wages continue to slow, although government sector workers continue to be better off than their private sector counterparts.
Through the past decade government sector employees showed higher income increases than private sector almost every quarter.
The gap is still there. For the year past, public sector wages rose 2.4%: their private sector counterparts had an increase of 1.6%.
The gap though is closing – for the quarter, the increases were broadly equal.
The largest increase was for health professionals – 4.1% - and teachers, up 3.6%.
The lowest increase was legislators administrators and managers, who had a 1% increase.
Meanwhile the accompanying quarterly employment survey (QES) shows the number of filled jobs appears to have picked up.
Employment, as measured by the number of full time equivalent (FTE) jobs, fell 2.5% for the year to December, but shows a 1.1% increase for the December quarter, primarily due to a pick up in the retail sector.
For the year, the main sectors hit by job losses were manufacturing and construction.
The QES figure though is regarded by economists as less important than the Household Labour Force Survey figure, which will be released on Thursday.
