VET News

Wages Standing Still Despite High Employment

New labour force figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today show unemployment remains steady at 3.5 per cent.   Despite the number of Australians in jobs remaining at record highs, we are still not seeing much needed wage increases. 

Youth unemployment is down to 7.9 per cent from 8.4 per cent, with an extra 22,300 young Australians in employment. That’s well below the 11.6 per cent it was at in March 2020. 

We continue however, to have circumstances that should be driving wage growth but it’s increasingly clear that wage growth is not automatic.

Global inflation and the rising cost of living are putting pressure on Australians, and they need pay increases to keep up.

The Government is set to support an increase in the minimum wage, and why aged care workers in particular are being backed in their fight for better pay.

These newly released figures show that:

• the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained steady at 3.5 per cent in September 2022
• the level of seasonally adjusted employment increased by 900
• encouragingly, full-time employment increased by 13,300 (or 0.1 per cent) over the month, to 9,478,400 in September 2022, and is 605,200 (or 6.8 per cent) above the level recorded in March 2020
• part-time employment decreased by 12,400 or (0.3 per cent) over the month, to 4,112,400 in September 2022, and is 9,100 (or 0.2 per cent) below the level recorded in March 2020
• the participation rate was steady over the month, at 66.6 per cent in September 2022, and remains close to the record high of 66.7 per cent in June 2022
• the number of people participating in the labour force rose by 9,800 over the month, to a record high of 14,090,300 in September
• the underemployment rate increased marginally over the month, to 6.0 per cent in September 2022, but is well below the 8.8 per cent recorded in March 2020
• the employment to population ratio remained steady at 64.2 per cent in September 2022, close to the record high of 64.4 per cent in June 2022
• the youth unemployment rate decreased from 8.4 per cent in August, to 7.9 per cent in September 2022, and is well below the 11.6 per cent in March 2020, and
• while the youth participation rate fell by 0.2 percentage points over the month, to 71.6 per cent in September 2022, it remains well above the 68.1 per cent recorded in March 2020. 

While strong employment figures are clearly good news, it is well past time Australian workers saw their wages increase.

Access the full Ministers' Media Release here.

Date posted Oct 27, 2022