Wage growth slows to just ahead of inflation

Wage growth is slowing but just staying ahead of inflation, according to a survey.

A salary tracker from employment website SEEK showed wage growth slowed to 0.8 percent in the three months ended May, down 0.3 percentage points from the February quarter.

The annual growth rate slowed to 4.4 percent from 5.1 percent.

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SEEK’s country manager Rob Clark said the quarterly increase was the lowest in 18 months.

“The rate of growth in advertised salaries has slowed since February, but at 4.4 percent in the year to May, is still outpacing inflation,” he said.

Annual inflation was at 4 percent for the March quarter.

Healthcare and medical, consulting and strategy, and education and training jobs recorded the biggest increases.

Clark said it reflected pay settlements for nurses and primary teachers, but there had been strength in consulting businesses.

The sectors showing the weakest growth and lagging inflation were transport, retail and manufacturing.

Real estate & property and advertising, arts & media saw a drop from a year ago, down 2.9 percent and 1.7 percent respectively.

In terms of regions, Canterbury recorded the strongest annual growth at 5.7 percent, while Auckland and Wellington’s advertised salaries increased by 4.4 percent.

The rest of the South Island saw an annual increase of 3.9 percent, lagging inflation.

The rest of the North Island recorded a 4.4 percent annual increase.