The Wage Price Index (WPI) rose 0.8 per cent in June quarter 2024, and 4.1 per cent for the year, new seasonally adjusted data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed.
Private sector wages grew by 0.7 per cent in June quarter 2024, down from 0.9 per cent in the March quarter 2024.
Quarterly retail wages are lower still, with a 0.2 per cent lift from the March quarter, the lowest quarterly wage lift that is on par with health care and social services.
However, year-on-year wages in retail have lifted 4.2 per cent - on par with the hospitality sector and administrative services, and behind electricity, gas, water and waste, education, and health care and social services.
“The June quarter 2024 private sector rise was the lowest rise for a June quarter since 2021 and the equal lowest rise for any quarter since December quarter 2021,” ABS head of prices statistics Michelle Marquardt said.
Public sector wages rose 0.9 per cent, up from 0.6 per cent in the March quarter 2024.
The increase in public sector wages was lower than in December quarter 2023 (1.3 per cent) but higher, for the sector, than for any June quarter since 2012 (1.0 per cent).
“The stronger June quarterly rise for the public sector was largely due to the newly synchronised timing pattern of Commonwealth public sector agreement increases,” Marquardt said.
All Australian Public Service employees received pay increases effective March 14, 2024. This led to a larger increase in the contribution Commonwealth jobs made to public sector wage growth. Pay rises for these jobs had previously been paid at different times across quarters depending on the timing of individual agency agreements.”
Annual wage growth in the private sector was 4.1 per cent in June quarter 2024, following three consecutive quarters at 4.2 per cent. This is higher than the 3.9 per cent growth recorded this time last year.
Public sector annual wage growth was 3.9 per cent, higher than the 3.8 per cent recorded in March quarter 2024 and 3.1 per cent from the same time last year. This reflects changes to new state and federal wage policies introduced across 2023.