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Summary
- The average earnings for full-time adults declined marginally in November 2020 amid a recovery in low-paid jobs, hours and wages.
- The decline in average weekly earnings was seen for the first time in November 2020 over a six-month period.
- There has been enough recovery at the lower end of the distribution to put downward pressure on the average, said Bjorn Jarvis, head of Labour Statistics, ABS.
The average earnings for full-time adults declined marginally in November 2020 amid a recovery in low-paid jobs, hours and wages. The average weekly ordinary time earnings fell to A$1,712 (seasonally adjusted), a decline of by 0.1 per cent compared to May 2020, according to new Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures released on Thursday. These earnings stood at 3.3 per cent in May, the month when the labour market impacts were largest, with a higher share of job losses in lower-paid jobs and industries.
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Commenting on the latest data, Bjorn Jarvis, head of Labour Statistics at ABS, said the earnings recovery has varied industry wise and other factors. He added that there had been enough recovery at the lower end of the distribution to put downward pressure on the average.
The decline in average weekly earnings was seen for the first time in November 2020 over a six-month period. The fall indicates the unusually large increase in May 2020, within a period of relatively low wage growth, Jarvis said.
Average weekly earnings (annual terms)
The average weekly earnings were 3.2 per cent higher in November 2020 in annual terms. The pattern was similar to the annual figure in November 2019 (3.3 per cent), indicating the shift towards a more typical earnings distribution by year-end. These falls were more pronounced for all employees, down 1.9 per cent (after rising by 3.8 per cent in May).
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Meanwhile, the Australian wages grew at the slowest pace on record in the December quarter. The slow growth against the last quarter poses a massive challenge for the policymakers in their efforts to boost inflation to the desired level. The seasonally adjusted official wage price index (WPI) surged by a moderate 0.6 per cent in the three months to December.
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The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on Wednesday hiked the amount of three-year bonds it was offering to buy in its regular market operations, with a likely aim to ease rising bond yields. The central bank offered to purchase A$3 billion of the April 2023 to April 24 bond lines, up from A$1 billion at Monday's operation. Notably, the central bank in its last money policy meet had decided to continue with quantitative easing to keep supporting the economy with bond purchase.
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