The WPI measures changes in the price of labour, unaffected by compositional shifts in the labour force, hours worked or employee characteristics
In June quarter 2021 the seasonally adjusted WPI:
| Mar Qtr 2021 to Jun Qtr 2021 % change | Jun Qtr 2020 to Jun Qtr 2021 % change | |
|---|---|---|
| Trend(a) | ||
| Australia | na | na |
| Private sector | na | na |
| Public sector | na | na |
| Seasonally Adjusted(b) | ||
| Australia | 0.4 | 1.7 |
| Private sector | 0.5 | 1.9 |
| Public sector | 0.4 | 1.3 |
| Original | ||
| Australia | 0.3 | 1.8 |
| Private sector | 0.3 | 1.9 |
| Public sector | 0.2 | 1.3 |
a. See Interpretation of index numbers, Trend estimates on the Methodology page.
b. See Interpretation of index numbers, Seasonally adjusted indexes and Seasonal analysis on the Methodology page.
This issue includes:
The private sector was the main driver of change this quarter supported by subdued public sector growth.
The three largest states were the main contributors to growth: New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland.
The main industries contributing to growth this quarter were Construction, Professional, scientific and technical services and to a lesser extent Manufacturing and Education and training.
The rate of through the year wage growth for the private sector rose 1.9%, remaining below the pre-pandemic March quarter 2020 growth rate of 2.1%. The public sector through the year growth has continued to decline over each of the last five quarters and reached a series-low rate of 1.3% in June quarter 2021.
Private sector wages rose 0.5% in June quarter 2021. The private sector returned to a similar rate of June quarter growth to that recorded before the start of the pandemic disruption. Growth was generally subdued, with small pockets of wage pressure emerging for jobs with particular skill requirements. In addition this quarter saw a number of businesses revisiting wage and salary reviews postponed during 2020.
Wage growth for the public sector remained at 0.4% for the third consecutive quarter and continued to track below the private sector. Ongoing enterprise bargaining negotiations, capped increases and pay freezes continued to dampen public sector growth.
Original estimates:
Original estimates:
In the December quarter 2020 release (Spotlight: exclusion-based measure of the WPI) the ABS provided an indicative measure of underlying quarterly wage growth which removed the volatile effects of large wage reductions for a number of jobs, and then their subsequent return to previous levels.
This initial analysis has been updated to provide a view of how these volatile changes have impacted the annual comparison between June quarter 2020 and 2021.
By removing the effects of these jobs in the exclusion-based index, the rate of growth through the year would have been 1.6% compared to the published WPI of 1.8%.
This release previously used catalogue number 6345.0.
Price indexes published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provide summary measures of the movements in various categories of prices over time. They are published primarily for use in Government economic analysis. Price indexes are also often used in contracts by businesses and government to adjust payments and/or charges to take account of changes in categories of prices (Indexation Clauses).
Use of Price Indexes in Contracts sets out a range of issues that should be taken into account by parties considering the inclusion of an Indexation Clause within a contract utilising an ABS published price index.
The Wage Price Index FAQs page has answers to a number of common questions to do with price indexes and the Wage Price Index, in particular.
23 August 2021: The WPI trend estimates in Table 1 of the Data downloads has been updated.