DECEMBER KEY FIGURES

			Sep Qtr 2008 to Dec Qtr 2008	Dec Qtr 2007 to Dec Qtr 2008
			% change	% change
Wage Price Index (WPI) Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses Trend(a)
	Australia		1.0	4.2
	Sector
		Private	1.1	4.3
		Public	1.1	4.0
Original
	Australia		1.2	4.3
	Sector
		Private	1.2	4.3
		Public	1.4	4.2
(a) See Explanatory Notes paragraphs 45-46, 49

WPI-Quarterly changes: Trend (a), Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses

WPI-Annual change: original, Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses - For selected industries, Dec Qtr 2008

DECEMBER KEY POINTS


TOTAL HOURLY RATES OF PAY EXCLUDING BONUSES

QUARTERLY CHANGE (SEP QTR 2008 TO DEC QTR 2008)

• The index for all employee jobs in Australia increased by 1.0%, in trend terms.
• The increases in indexes (in original terms) at the industry level ranged from 0.7% for Education to 1.9% for Electricity, gas and water supply.

ANNUAL CHANGE (DEC QTR 2007 TO DEC QTR 2008)

• The increase in the trend index through the year to December 2008 for all employee jobs in Australia was 4.2%.
• Increases in the original indexes through the year to December 2008 at the industry level ranged from 2.8% for Accommodation, cafes and restaurants to 6.1% for Mining.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)	Release Date
March 2009	20 May 2009
June 2009	12 August 2009
September 2009	18 November 2009
December 2009	24 February 2010

CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

Wage price indexes for broad occupation groups are no longer produced. Historical versions of these series covering the period September quarter 1997 to September quarter 2008 can be found in corresponding tables in releases for previous quarters. Users interested in discussing what other wage price index data are available, should contact David Taylor on Perth (08) 9360 5151 or email labour.price.index@abs.gov.au. As a consequence of this, the table numbers in this publication have changed and a concordance showing the old and new table numbers is provided in Appendix 3. This appendix also details where to find the historical data for these tables.

The annual update of expenditure weights for the wage price index to take account of changing employer expenditure patterns for labour has been incorporated for the December quarter 2008. For details, refer to Explanatory Notes paragraphs 29 and 30, and Appendix 1.


CHANGES IN FUTURE ISSUES

From the September quarter 2009, the content and format of tables containing the industry classification will change to reflect the contemporary Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC06). Details about the new industry classification structure will be provided in the March quarter 2009 edition of this publication.


ABS DATA AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

Original indexes are compiled for various combinations of state/territory, sector and broad industry group. Seasonally adjusted and trend indexes are compiled only for total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses for each of the private sector, public sector and all sectors. Indexes not included in this publication may be made available on request by telephoning David Taylor on Perth (08) 9360 5151.


FURTHER INFORMATION

More detailed information on the Labour Price Index (LPI) is available in Labour Price Index: Concepts, Sources and Methods, Australia (cat. no. 6351.0.55.001).


INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or David Taylor on Perth (08) 9360 5151.