Each quarter the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) surveys around 3,000 enterprises regarding a sample of jobs in each workplace to measure changes in the price of labour across 18,000 jobs. The results are used to construct a wage price index (WPI) in a manner similar to the construction of the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Changes in the WPI over time provide a measure of changes in wages and salaries independently of changes in the quality or quantity of work performed.
According to the latest wage price index (WPI) figures published by the ABS, hourly wages grew by 0.6% in the September quarter, up from June’s +0.5% but in line with economists’ expectations. The year-on-year growth rate also increased, this time from 2.1% to 2.3%, which makes this quarter the second consecutive quarter in which the annual rate has exceeded 2.0%.
