“..Kiwi wages slip further behind..”
“.. New Zealand wage earners have fallen further behind Australia in the past year ..
.. despite Prime Minister John Key’s much-lauded promise that his government would close the gap.
According to OECD data, New Zealand wages lag around 30% behind Australia’s when adjusted for cost of living.
But in the past 12 months Australian wages have climbed faster than New Zealand’s .. nudging the gap still wider.
Labour leader Phil Goff said the figure showed Key’s promise to close the gap was “reckless and dishonest”.
According to Statistics New Zealand data, between December 2008 and December 2009, the average New Zealand wage increased 2.86% after being adjusted for inflation, up from $891 a week to $934 a week.
In Australia, from November 2008 to November 2009, the average wage went up 3.6% from $1159 a week to $1226.
This comes on top of a forecast last week that indicated the trans-Tasman wage gap would continue to widen this year.
International accounting firm Grant Thornton surveyed 250 Australian and 180 New Zealand businesses ..
.. and found 78% of Australian businesses intended to increase wages in line with inflation or higher ..
.. compared with only 55% of New Zealand companies.
New Zealand’s unemployment rate was also heading in the wrong direction, jumping to 7.3% last December, the highest in 16 years ..
.. while Australia’s jobless rate dropped to 5.3%.
Last month, in his first major statement of the year .. Key admitted he was finding it hard to deliver on his promise..”
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