MARCH KEY FIGURES

			Dec Qtr 2009 to Mar Qtr 2010	Mar Qtr 2009 to Mar Qtr 2010
			%	%
Wage Price Index (WPI) Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses Trend(a)
	Australia		0.7	2.9
	Sector
		Private	0.6	2.5
		Public	1.1	4.2
Original
	Australia		0.9	3.1
	Sector
		Private	0.8	2.6
		Public	1.2	4.3
(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 - For selected industries, Mar Qtr 2010

MARCH KEY POINTS


TOTAL HOURLY RATES OF PAY EXCLUDING BONUSES

QUARTERLY CHANGE (DEC QTR 2009 TO MAR QTR 2010)

• The index for all employee jobs in Australia increased by 0.7%, in trend terms.
• The increases in indexes (in original terms) at the industry level ranged from 0.2% for Wholesale trade to 2.1% for Education and training.

ANNUAL CHANGE (MAR QTR 2009 TO MAR QTR 2010)

• The increase in the trend index through the year to March quarter 2010 for all employee jobs in Australia was 2.9%.
• Increases in the original indexes through the year to March quarter 2010 at the industry level ranged from 1.8% for Accommodation and food services to 4.8% for Electricity, gas, water and waste services.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)	Release Date
June 2010	18 August 2010
September 2010	17 November 2010
December 2010	23 February 2011
March 2011	18 May 2011

NEW INDEX REFERENCE BASE

From the September quarter 2009, all index numbers have been calculated on a new reference base of 2008-09, that is, the numbers in each index series have been reset to equal 100.0 for the financial year 2008-09. Period-to-period percentage changes may differ slightly to those previously published due to re-referencing and rounding. These differences do not constitute a revision. See Appendix 2 for more detail.


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 on Perth (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.