6345.0 - Wage Price Index, Australia, Jun 2019 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 14/08/2019   
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MEDIA RELEASE
14 Aug 2019
Embargoed: 11.30 am (Canberra time)
98/2019
Wages rise 0.6% in the June quarter 2019


The seasonally adjusted Wage Price Index (WPI) rose 0.6 per cent in the June quarter 2019 and 2.3 per cent through the year, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Seasonally adjusted private sector wage growth was 0.5 per cent, while public sector wage growth was 0.8 per cent in the June quarter 2019.

ABS Chief Economist, Bruce Hockman said: "Wage growth continues at a steady rate in the Australian economy on the back of strong public sector growth over the quarter. The most significant contribution to wage growth this quarter came from the public sector component of the health care and social assistance industry, where a number of large increases were recorded in Victoria under a plan to ensure wage parity with other states."

In original terms, annual wages growth to the June quarter 2019 by industry ranged from 1.7 per cent for wholesale trade to 3.3 per cent for health care and social assistance.

Western Australia recorded the lowest through the year wage growth of 1.6 per cent while Victoria recorded the highest of 2.9 per cent.

Further information is available in Wage Price Index, Australia (cat. no. 6345.0), available for free download from the ABS website: https://www.abs.gov.au/.

Media notes:

  • When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.
  • The Wage Price Index as reported in cat.no. 6345.0, publishes estimates of the change in hourly rates of pay, unaffected by changes in the composition of the labour force. The survey of Average Weekly Earnings (6302.0) can be affected by changes in both the level of earnings per employee and in the composition of the labour force.
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