Reporter's view: Future of wages to be continual focus for Govt
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Reporter's view: Economics correspondent Jennifer Duke writes: "This is a strong result and the highest annual wage rise since 2009. But the future of wages is going to continue to be a focus politically and economically".
"That’s because the big concern right now is whether productivity growth will improve enough to sustain wage increases, which are not only needed to help offset more than two years of high inflation but to lift overall living standards longer term," she said.
Wages grew 4.2% in 2023: ABS
The news: Wages increased 4.2% over 2023, with a strong 0.9% rise in the three months to December 2023, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The numbers: Private sector wage growth increased 0.9% in the December quarter while public sector wages were up 1.3% — the highest quarterly jump in 15 years.
The biggest quarterly rise was in education and training (1.7%), while accommodation and food services had the lowest result (0.3%).
In annual terms, health care and social assistance had the strongest wage growth of all industries (5.5%) and the biggest increase on record for the sector. Finance and insurance were the lowest over the year (3.2%). Over the year, Queensland had the biggest wage rises, while Victoria and the ACT had the lowest.
The context: Wages are outpacing inflation but there is likely to be a slowing in the year ahead. That’s partly because, on an annual basis, the figures were lifted by a significant rise in the minimum wage by the Fair Work Commission in the September quarter data. The September quarter’s growth rate of 1.3% was the highest on record.
What they said: ABS head of prices statistics Michelle Marquardt said wages growth for public and private sector workers was driven by organisation-wide annual wage and salary reviews.
“Wage growth for December quarter 2023 saw a higher contribution from jobs covered by enterprise agreements than is typically recorded for a December quarter,” she said.
The source: ABS
