DECEMBER KEY FIGURES

			Sep Qtr 2010 to Dec Qtr 2010	Dec Qtr 2009 to Dec Qtr 2010
			% change	% change
Wage Price Index (WPI) Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses Trend(a)
	Australia		0.9	3.8
	Sector
		Private	1.0	3.8
		Public	0.9	3.9
Original
	Australia		0.9	3.8
	Sector
		Private	0.9	3.9
		Public	0.9	3.9
(a) See Explanatory Notes paras 46-47, 50.

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

WPI - Annual change: original, Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses - States/Territories, by sector, Dec Qtr 2010

DECEMBER KEY POINTS


TOTAL HOURLY RATES OF PAY EXCLUDING BONUSES

QUARTERLY CHANGE (SEP QTR 2010 TO DEC QTR 2010)

• The index for all employee jobs in Australia increased by 0.9%, in trend terms.
• The increase in indexes (in original terms) at the industry level ranged from 0.3% for Accommodation and food services to 1.5% for Electricity, gas, water and waste services.

ANNUAL CHANGE (DEC QTR 2009 TO DEC QTR 2010)

• The increase in the trend index through the year to December quarter 2010 for all employee jobs in Australia was 3.8%.
• Increases in the original indexes though the year to the December quarter 2010 at the industry level ranged from 2.9% for Transport, postal and warehousing to 4.7% for Electricity, gas, water and waste services.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)	Release Date
March 2011	18 May 2011
June 2011	17 August 2011
September 2011	16 November 2011
December 2011	22 February 2012

IMPACT OF THE FLOODS

Flooding began in Queensland in late December 2010, and then spread to other states. Price collection and processing for the December quarter 2010 was not affected by the floods.


CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

The distribution of employers' expenditure on wages and salaries, as provided in Appendix 1, is updated in the December quarter each year. An explanation of the use of employers' expenditure data is provided in paragraphs 30 and 31 of the Explanatory Notes. The December quarter 2010 update has sourced estimates from the 2010 Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours to ensure the most contemporary information on employer expenditure patterns is used in the compilation of the wage price index.


ABS DATA AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

Original indexes are compiled for various combinations of state/territory, sector and broad industry group. Indexes not included in this publication may be made available on request by telephoning Kathryn Parlor in Perth on (08) 9360 5151 or email labour.price.index@abs.gov.au.


DATA REFERENCES

Data referenced in the Key Points and Commentary are available from the tables shown in this publication or in the corresponding tables of this publication on the ABS website <https://www.abs.gov.au>.


INQUIRIES

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