Embargoed until 10:45am – 7 August 2006
Annual Earnings Growth Strong
Salary and wage rates (including overtime), as measured by the Labour Cost Index (LCI), increased 3.2 percent for the
year to the June 2006 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today. Earnings growth was also strong in the the Quarterly
Employment Survey (QES), where average total hourly earnings rose 4.4 percent (to $21.90) in the June 2006 year.
In the LCI, public sector salary and wage rates (including overtime) increased 4.1 percent in the year to the June 2006
quarter, the largest annual increase for the public sector since the LCI began in the December 1992 quarter. This latest
increase was driven by rises in the education industry.
For the year to the June 2006 quarter, education salary and wage rates (including overtime) rose 5.1 percent, the
largest increase since the series began in the June 2001 quarter. Education salary and wage rates (including overtime)
rose 1.3 percent for the June 2006 quarter. The main reason for the quarterly increase was collective employment
agreements coming into effect.
In the year to the June 2006 quarter the median increase recorded for all surveyed salary and ordinary time wage rates
was 4.2 percent. This is the highest annual median increase since the LCI began in the December 1992 quarter.
QES results for the year to June 2006 showed continued demand for labour. Employment, as measured by full-time
equivalent employees (FTEs), increased 4.0 percent, driven by full-time employment. The data continue to show stronger
annual growth in full-time employment than in part-time employment, following stronger part-time growth before 2001.
Brian Pink Government Statistician
ENDS