Higher job mobility and labour hoarding might weigh on short-term labour productivity growth, but could also boost it in the long-term, the RBA says in new research.
The PC has confirmed its provisional view against augmenting unpaid carer's leave and says the Albanese Government's Secure Jobs changes will "make it easier for carers to negotiate flexible work, perhaps obviating the need for extended unpaid carer leave".
Productivity has far exceeded wage growth in mining and agriculture, but they have largely expanded together across the rest of the economy, and "productivity remains the key to continued wage growth and long-term prosperity", according to a new Productivity Commission report.
The ILO says AI-related workplace automation will disproportionately affect women, and the resulting job losses could threaten the increasing participation of females in the labour market.
Labour force participation is likely to drop from a near-record high of 66.6% to 63.8% over the next 40 years, although the projected reduction might be offset if older, female and migrant workers make a bigger contribution, according to the Albanese Government's first five-yearly Intergenerational Report.
In figures that don't align with the RBA's warnings about a wage-price spiral, new ABS figures show private sector rates of pay excluding bonuses are rising at an unchanged 3.8% a year.
Unit labour costs have fallen for the second successive quarter as a small decline in hours worked still produced an annual increase of 7.1%, according to ABS national accounts data released today.
A new report recommends creating specific Fair Work Act protections for gig workers in the care sector and reforming the NDIS and aged care funding and regulation models that "reward businesses that avoid the costs and responsibilities of directly employing personal care and support workers".
A senior Treasury Department official says the Federal Budget's forecast that inflation will drop back to 2% to 3% by mid-2025 assumes the FWC will make a minimum wage ruling that "broadly proxies" last year's increases.
Private sector rates of pay increased to 3.8% annually in the March quarter, up from 3.6% in the previous three-month period, according to the ABS, but relatively weak public sector rises have restricted the economy-wide movement to 3.6% in trend terms, about half the rate of inflation.
