MAY KEY FIGURES

		May 2011	Feb 2011 to May 2011	May 2010 to May 2011
		$	% change	% change
TREND ESTIMATES
Private & public sectors
	Full-time adult ordinary time earnings	1 305.40	1.2	4.3
	Full-time adult total earnings	1 359.10	1.2	4.4
	All employees total earnings	1 020.10	1.3	4.4
Private sector
	Full-time adult ordinary time earnings	1 278.60	1.3	4.3
	Full-time adult total earnings	1 334.00	1.3	4.4
Public sector
	Full-time adult ordinary time earnings	1 399.50	1.0	4.3
	Full-time adult total earnings	1 447.90	1.0	4.4
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES
Private & public sectors
	Full-time adult ordinary time earnings	1 305.60	1.2	4.4
	Full-time adult total earnings	1 359.00	1.1	4.4
	All employees total earnings	1 019.30	1.2	3.9
Private sector
	Full-time adult ordinary time earnings	1 278.30	1.2	4.2
	Full-time adult total earnings	1 334.20	1.3	4.4
Public sector
	Full-time adult ordinary time earnings	1 400.80	1.1	4.8
	Full-time adult total earnings	1 448.60	1.1	4.6

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

MAY KEY POINTS


TREND ESTIMATES

• Full-time adult ordinary time earnings rose by 4.7% for males and 4.1% for females in the twelve months to May 2011.
• In the twelve months to May 2011, full-time adult total earnings rose by 4.8% for males and 4.3% for females.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)	Release Date
August 2011	17 November 2011
November 2011	23 February 2012

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 (cat. no. 6302.0.55.003) and paragraph 33 of the explanatory notes.


FREQUENCY CHANGE

The frequency of the average weekly earnings series will change from quarterly to biannual in 2012. It is intended that 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. The move to a biannual frequency requires the ABS to assess the feasibility of releasing seasonally adjusted and trend estimates for the AWE series, however, it should be noted that the strength of seasonality has declined in recent years.


NOTES ON ESTIMATES

COMPOSITIONAL EFFECTS. Movements in average weekly earnings can be affected by both changes in the level of earnings per employee and changes in the composition of the labour force. Refer to paragraphs 28 and 29 of the Explanatory Notes.


SAMPLING ERROR

For information on sampling error, see the Technical Note at the end of this publication. 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.