FEBRUARY KEY FIGURES

		Feb 2012	Nov 2011 to Feb 2012	Feb 2011 to Feb 2012
		$	% change	% change
TREND ESTIMATES
Private & public sectors
	Full-time adult ordinary time earnings	1 345.20	0.9	4.2
	Full-time adult total earnings	1 404.90	1.0	4.6
	All employees total earnings	1 047.20	1.0	4.0
Private sector
	Full-time adult ordinary time earnings	1 319.80	0.9	4.5
	Full-time adult total earnings	1 383.90	1.2	5.1
Public sector
	Full-time adult ordinary time earnings	1 439.90	0.9	3.9
	Full-time adult total earnings	1 480.30	0.6	3.2
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES
Private & public sectors
	Full-time adult ordinary time earnings	1 346.00	1.1	4.4
	Full-time adult total earnings	1 405.50	1.2	4.7
	All employees total earnings	1 050.20	1.5	4.4
Private sector
	Full-time adult ordinary time earnings	1 320.50	1.2	4.6
	Full-time adult total earnings	1 385.00	1.4	5.2
Public sector
	Full-time adult ordinary time earnings	1 440.30	1.0	4.0
	Full-time adult total earnings	1 479.60	0.6	3.2

Full-time adult total earnings, Quarterly % change in trend estimates - All Sectors

Full-time adult total earnings, Quarterly % change in trend estimates - Private and Public

FEBRUARY KEY POINTS


TREND ESTIMATES

• Full-time adult ordinary time earnings rose by 4.1% for males and 4.0% for females in the twelve months to February 2012.
• In the twelve months to February 2012, full-time adult total earnings rose by 4.7% for males and 3.9% for females.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)	Release Date
May 2012	16 August 2012
November 2012	28 February 2013

RELEASE OF AVERAGE WEEKLY CASH EARNINGS SERIES

The average weekly cash earnings series inclusive of salary sacrifice is available on the ABS Website Downloads tab of this release, under the data cubes heading. For further information relating to the average weekly cash earnings series, refer to the Information Paper: Release of Average Weekly Cash Earnings Series, May 2011 (cat. no. 6302.0.55.003) and paragraph 31 of the Explanatory Notes.


FREQUENCY CHANGE

The frequency of the average weekly earnings series will change from quarterly to biannual in 2012. The May 2012 publication will be the last quarterly issue and the November 2012 publication the first produced on a biannual basis. From 2013 onwards, AWE data will be produced twice a year relating to May and November. An assessment of the feasibility of releasing seasonally adjusted and trend estimates determined that seasonal factors remain present and can be calculated on a biannual basis. However, it should be noted that calculating seasonally adjusted and trend estimates using only two points of measurements each year, rather than the four points available in a quarterly survey, will likely result in a change in the level of these series. For full details on the change in frequency, refer to the Information Paper: Changes to Average Weekly Earnings, Australia, April 2012 (cat. no. 6302.0.55.002).


COMPOSITIONAL EFFECTS

Movements in average weekly earnings can be affected by changes in both the level of earnings per employee and in the composition of the labour force. Refer to paragraphs 26 and 27 of the Explanatory Notes.


SAMPLING ERROR

For information on sampling error, see the Technical Note (on page 34 of the PDF version of this publication or under the Explanatory Notes tab on the website). Standard errors for the original estimates contained in this publication are in Tables 18 to 20.


INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Francesco Tornatore on Perth (08) 9360 5304.