The Reserve Bank has pointed to the concentration of cutting-edge software and information technology in a small number of businesses and narrow labour market segments as a factor behind flat wages growth.
Real non-farm unit labour costs have retreated after three successive quarters of growth, while productivity in the market sector has seen a modest spike to arrest consecutive quarterly falls, according to ABS national accounts data released today.
In a development that might fuel debate over the links between union power and wage rises, substantially above-average pay increases secured in the heavily-unionised construction sector have pushed bargained private sector wage rises off their recent historic low.
FSU legally represented in banking royal commission; "No end date" comment spurs on-hire dismissal claim; Company's "secret" to closing gender pay gap; Disputes at decade-long low; and surprising lift in US private sector union membership.
Academic analysis has revealed that gender equality measures are helping to drive a $24,000 average boost to the pay of top-tier women managers, part-funded by a $4,000 decrease in the pay of their male counterparts, while the overall pay gap among full-time workers is unchanged.
Suppressed wage growth and rising inequality pose a threat to both Australia's economy and its political stability, according to former Labor treasurer Wayne Swan, who used a party-sponsored conference on the weekend to confirm that his personal economic settings had been "moved to the left" by the GFC.
RBA Governor Philip Lowe's jawboning on wages is yet to have an effect, with the ABS confirming today that growth in private sector rates of pay remains in the doldrums and is now in lockstep with cost of living increases.
Leading online jobs marketplace SEEK has told a Senate inquiry into the future of work that Australians face a "significant shock" as technological forces continue to drive wages down, while the Productivity Commission has warned that digital disruption might ultimately require the introduction of a universal basic income.
