6 November 2013

Pay rise meagre

“It’s time working people saw much more recognition in their pay packets of a growing economy. These meagre increases do not recognise the efforts of working people and the difficult times many have been through,” says CTU Economist Bill Rosenberg.

“Pay rates increased by less than inflation in the last quarter – a 0.4 percent increase in the Labour Cost Index (LCI) compared to 0.9 percent increase in CPI. Median pay rises are still low and slowing, with those who received an increase in the last year getting 2.5 percent compared to 3.0 percent a year ago when annual inflation was 0.8 percent.”

“But many people did not get a rise: 46 percent missed out - up from 44 percent in September last year. The average hourly wage rose by 2.6 percent. It was boosted by reduced numbers of people working part time. Part-timers get lower pay on average so the average of the remaining workforce appears to rise.”

“The fall in the unemployment rate to 6.2 percent from 6.4 percent is welcome but the fall is slow. The Government needs to set a target of 4 percent unemployment by the end of next year and focus policy on reaching it rather than be satisfied with a very gradual reduction in the number of people coping with unemployment.”

“Many people are still finding it hard to find a job, and some have given up looking”, says Rosenberg, “the labour participation rate while barely up by 0.1 percentage point in the year has fallen from 68.3 percent to 67.9 percent over the year in the biggest job market, Auckland. The fall in employment there was swamped by a 26,600 rise in people not in the labour force.”

“The gender pay gap which shows women earning 15.5 percent less than men in their average ordinary time hourly wage is lower than it was a year ago (16.2 percent) when it jumped up briefly, but higher than two years ago (14.4 percent).”

ENDS

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