Wages in private sector agreements approved in the September quarter remained stuck at 2.9% a year, defying labour shortages and inflationary pressure, according to DEWR data.
Union density has dropped significantly from 14.3% to 12.5% over the past two years and almost 10 percentage points a decade for the past 30 years, according to ABS data released today.
Private sector rates of pay increased to 3.4% annually in the September quarter, up from 2.7% in the previous three-month period, according to the ABS, but aneamic public sector rises have restricted the economy-wide rise to 3.1%.
Private sector rates of pay increased by 2.7% annually in the June quarter, lifting off historic lows but failing to make much of a dent on surging inflation.
Consumer prices are now rising at more than double the pace of private sector rates of pay excluding bonuses, which increased by 2.4% annually in the March quarter, unchanged from the December quarter, according to the ABS.
Just weeks before the May 21 election, annual consumer price inflation has surged to 5.1% annually in the March quarter, well ahead of private sector wage growth of 2.4%, which remains near historic lows.
The ABS has confirmed COVID-19-driven absences of quadruple the normal level in January and almost double last month, when unemployment fell to a record-equalling 4%.
Private sector rates of pay excluding bonuses increased by 2.4% annually in the December quarter, unchanged from the September quarter, but accelerated slightly over the last three months of the year, according to the ABS.
