DECEMBER KEY FIGURES

			Sep Qtr 2011 to Dec Qtr 2011	Dec Qtr 2010 to Dec Qtr 2011
			% change	% change
Wage Price Index (WPI) Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses Trend(a)
	Australia		0.9	3.7
	Sector
		Private	0.9	3.7
		Public	0.7	3.2
Original
	Australia		0.9	3.7
	Sector
		Private	0.9	3.8
		Public	0.8	3.2
(a) See Explanatory Notes paragraphs 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 2011

DECEMBER KEY POINTS


TOTAL HOURLY RATES OF PAY EXCLUDING BONUSES

QUARTERLY CHANGE (SEP QTR 2011 TO DEC QTR 2011)

• The index for all employee jobs in Australia rose 0.9%, in trend terms.
• The rise in indexes (in original terms) at the industry level ranged from 0.5% for Transport, postal and warehousing; Education and training; and Other services to 1.6% for Arts and recreation services.

ANNUAL CHANGE (DEC QTR 2010 TO DEC QTR 2011)

• The rise in the trend index through the year to the December quarter 2011 for all employee jobs was 3.7%.
• Rises in the original indexes through the year to the December quarter 2011 at the industry level ranged from 2.9% for Public administration and safety to 4.7% for Professional, scientific and technical services.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)	Release Date
March 2012	16 May 2012
June 2012	15 August 2012
September 2012	14 November 2012
December 2012	20 February 2013

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 2011 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.