SEPTEMBER KEY FIGURES

			Jun Qtr 2010 to Sep Qtr 2010	Sep Qtr 2009 to Sep Qtr 2010
			%	%
Wage Price Index (WPI) Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses Trend(a)
	Australia		1.0	3.6
	Sector
		Private	1.0	3.4
		Public	0.9	4.0
Original
	Australia		1.4	3.6
	Sector
		Private	1.5	3.5
		Public	1.4	4.0
(a) See Changes in this issue on page 2

			2008-09	2009-10
			% change	% change
Labour price index excluding bonuses
	Australia		3.5	3.4
	Sector
		Private	3.5	3.0
		Public	3.7	4.5

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, Sept Qtr 2010

SEPTEMBER KEY POINTS


TOTAL HOURLY RATES OF PAY EXCLUDING BONUSES

QUARTERLY CHANGE (JUN QTR 2010 TO SEPT QTR 2010)

• The index for all employee jobs in Australia increased by 1.0%, in trend terms.

ANNUAL CHANGE (SEP QTR 2009 TO SEP QTR 2010)

• The increase in the trend index through the year to September quarter 2010 for all employee jobs in Australia was 3.6%.

LABOUR PRICE INDEX EXCLUDING BONUSES

CHANGE FROM 2008-09 TO 2009-10

• The change to 2009-10 was 3.4%, with the private sector increasing by 3.0% and the public sector by 4.5%.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)	Release Date
December 2010	23 February 2011
March 2011	18 May 2011
June 2011	17 August 2011
September 2011	16 November 2011

CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

In September quarter 2010, the seasonally adjusted and trend series have been reanalysed to account for the change in timing of minimum wage decisions on the wage price index (WPI). Revisions to the seasonally adjusted and trend series impact the period 2006-2009 when changes to minimum wage rates occurred at a different time in the year to what is expected under Fair Work Australia. A trend break has been applied between June quarter and September quarter 2009 to remove the effect on the underlying trend series of the Australian Fair Pay Commission's decision not to increase minimum wages in 2009. (See Explanatory Notes paragraphs 38-47).

A new graph WPI-Annual change: original, States and Territories appears for the first time on the front page of the publication in September quarter 2010. The graph WPI-Annual change: original (for selected industries) has been removed from the front page and now appears with the commentary (pages 5-7). This shift has enabled the inclusion of all industries and quarterly changes in the graph.


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.