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Wages grow 2.6 per cent in June quarter: ABS

Workers received a pay rise last quarter, but it was well short of the cost of living.

Workers received a pay rise last quarter, but it was well short of the cost of living. Photo: Getty

Workers saw a 2.6 per cent boost to their pay packets in the year to June but the increase is unlikely to do much to alleviate the soaring cost of living.

With inflation sitting at 6.1 per cent, the wage data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows real wages are going backwards and putting pressure on household budgets.

On a quarterly basis, wages grew by 0.7 per cent.

It was the highest annual rate of wage growth since September 2014.

Michelle Marquardt, head of prices statistics at the ABS, said the private sector was largely responsible for growing wages.

“Expanding demand for skilled jobs over the last 12 months has continued to build wage pressure across a broader range of industries and jobs, reflected in the increasing size of pay rises,” she said.

Employees in the construction industry experienced the biggest pay boost, with workers in the accommodation and food services seeing the most modest wage increases.

Modest wage growth was broadly expected in the June quarter, with wage increases expected to accelerate in the second half of the year.

The predictions are also in line with the Reserve Bank of Australia’s forecasts on wages.

On Tuesday, the central bank said more than half of private companies planned to boost wages over the next 12 months.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the inflation challenge was driving a fall in real wages.

He said he wanted to see wages growing “sustainably”.

“That will be determined by how quickly we can grow this economy without adding to these inflationary pressures, which are holding us back right now,” he told reporters in Canberra.

Employment Minister Tony Burke says the previous government deliberately kept wages low.

“This government has a deliberate intention to get wages moving.”

Growing wages and boosting job security will be one of the key economic challenges on the agenda at the Jobs and Skills Summit in September, as outlined in the issues paper released by the government.

Wages have been growing faster in larger businesses, according to Employment Hero data, with employers of more than 200 people boosting wages by 6.7 per cent since July 2021.

Small businesses have been slower to increase employee pay, with wages growing by four per cent at smaller firms in the same period.

“It is positive to see the average employee size increase and growth of the median wage since last year given that the JobKeeper program has ended and the intense economic pressures at play,” Employment Hero chief executive officer Ben Thompson said.

Some states are seeing stronger wage increases than others, with workers in the ACT, Western Australia, Queensland and NSW experiencing larger pay bumps than other states and territories.

– AAP

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