More workers get wage rises, jobs soft

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Salary and wage rates, including overtime, grew 1.7 per cent in the year to the December quarter, Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) says.

The labour cost index (LCI) published today showed the rise for the December year was slightly up from the 1.6 per cent in both the September and June years.

Annual wage growth as measured by the LCI declined from a peak of 4 per cent in the year to the September 2008 quarter to 1.5 per cent in the year to the March 2010 quarter.

In the private sector, salary and wage rates rose 1.9 per cent in the year to December, the largest increase since a 2 per cent rise in the year to September 2009. Public sector rates rose 1.4 per cent in the year to December.

The slight pick-up in growth was due to a higher proportion of wage rates increasing, with the average size of increases staying about the same, SNZ said.

In the year to December, 53 per cent of salary and ordinary time wage rates in the LCI sample rose, up from 49 per cent, 46 per cent, and 43 per cent in the years to September, June, and March 2010.

In the LCI, salary and wage rates, including overtime, rose 0.5 per cent in the December quarter, the same rise as in the September 2010 quarter. For the private sector the rise for the latest quarter was 0.6 per cent.

The Quarterly Employment Survey (QES), also released today, showed a rise of 1.9 per cent in average total hourly earnings for the December year, up from a 1.3 per cent increase in the September 2010 year. Private sector average total hourly earnings increased 1.8 per cent.

The number of full time equivalent employees as measured by the QES rose 0.2 per cent in the December year, and was unchanged for the December quarter from the September quarter

In the December quarter, seasonally adjusted average total weekly paid hours for full time equivalent employees rose 0.9 per cent.

It was the third consecutive increase and was the largest rise since the December 2004 quarter, SNZ said.

The number of full time equivalent employees as measured by the QES rose 0.2 per cent in the December year, and was unchanged for the December quarter from the September quarter.

The LCI tracks nearly 6000 positions and measures changes in pay rates for a fixed quantity and quality of labour.

The QES is designed to measure quarterly estimates of change in, and levels of, average hourly and average weekly pre-tax earnings, average weekly paid hours, and the number of filled jobs.

- NZPA