Annual wage rises under all enterprise agreements struck in the fourth quarter of 2009 averaged 4%, up from a revised 3.6% in the third quarter, the Department of Employment said.
In the private sector, annual wage rises under enterprise agreements certified in the fourth quarter averaged 3.9%, up from a revised 3.7% in the third quarter. For public sector employees, the average annual wage increase under enterprise agreements struck in the three months to Dec. 31 was 4.2%, up from a revised 3.6% in the third quarter.
The data refer to annual wages growth agreed to under federal enterprise agreements reached by direct negotiation between employers and employees. The figures don't account for wage rises gained under state-based agreements.
The department also reported that annual wage rises under all current enterprise agreements averaged 4.1% in the fourth quarter, unchanged from the third quarter. For private sector employees, wage rises under all agreements averaged 4% in the fourth quarter, up from 4.1% in the third quarter, while in the public sector the average wage rise for all agreements was 4.2% in the fourth quarter, unchanged from the third quarter.