The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today released its wage data for the March quarter, and revealed the seasonally-adjusted Wage Price Index (WPI) rose 0.5%.
Public sector wages grew at a slightly faster rate compared to the private sector - 0.5% compared to 0.4%.
However, inflation for the same quarter rose 0.3%, and 2.2% for the year.
Annually, this means a wage drop of 0.1% in real terms (2.1% wage growth on the year).
Similarly, December quarter data last year revealed wages dropped in real terms by 0.2%.
ABS chief economist Bruce Hockman said wage growth has been 'steady' over the past four quarters.
"Today's data relates to the period shortly before restrictions were put in place to contain the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), capturing wage information for the mid-month (February) of the March quarter," he said.
Last week the ABS also revealed wages had fallen 8.2% in a month's time frame from 14 March to 18 April.
Coronavirus restrictions began 22 March, with a third of jobs lost in the accommodation and food services sector in that timeframe.
Need somewhere to store cash and earn interest? The table below features introductory savings accounts with some of the highest interest rates on the market.
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| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | ||||||
| FEATURED | High Interest Savings Account (< $250k)
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High Interest Savings Account (< $250k)
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| 0 | 1000 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
| FEATURED | Savings Maximiser (<$100k)
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Savings Maximiser (<$100k)
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| 0 | 1000 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
| FEATURED | Saver Account (<$250k)
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Saver Account (<$250k)
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| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | ||||||
Savings Account (Amounts < $250k)
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Savings Account (Amounts < $250k)
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| 0 | 2000 | 1 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Home Saver
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Home Saver
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| 0 | 200 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
| No monthly fees | Save Account
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Save Account
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| 0 | 2000 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
HomeME Savings Account ($0 - $100,000) | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 200 | 1 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Growth Saver ($1 - $25k) | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 1000 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Target Saver | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 1000 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
| For customers aged 14-35 years | |||||||||||||
Future Saver Account ( < $50k) | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 500 | 1 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Goal Saver
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Goal Saver
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| 0 | 1000 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Boost Saver | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 0.01 | 1 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Reward Saver Account (31 years +) ($0-$100k) | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 100 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Bonus Saver Account (Amounts < $100k) | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 20 | 1 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Reward Saver Kick Start (Amounts ≤ $1m) | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 0.01 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Life (< 30 years) (Monthly deposit) | |||||||||||||
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | ||||||
NetBank Saver | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
ANZ Save | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 5 | 0 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Young Saver Account | |||||||||||||
| 0 | 50 | 1 | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | $product[$field["value"]] | More details | |||||||
Save up | |||||||||||||
Westpac senior economist Justin Smirk said it will be some time until there's a material effect on wages from COVID-19.
"Wages growth was slowing even before COVID-19 hit," he said.
"The state data has been important for understanding national wage dynamics.
"Victoria was the state that has had the fastest rate of wage inflation on the back of a falling underutililisation rate through 2018 and into 2019.
"NSW wages never picked up even with a national low in underutilisation."
Australia's most populated states had wage rises of just 0.4% in the quarter.
Queensland, in comparison, was 0.6%.
However, on the year Victoria was the strongest performer at 2.5%.
By sector, education and training recorded the highest quarterly rise of 0.9%
Construction, retail trade, accommodation and food services, and administrative and support services all had soft wage growth at just 0.2% in the quarter.
Brooke Cooper
Aaron Bell
William Jolly
