Average weekly wage now $296

Press, 30 May 1985, Page 4

Average weekly wage now $296

Wellington reporter Average ordinary time weekly earnings in February before tax were $296.74. according to the quarterly employment survey of the Labour Department. Males earned $328.66 and females $247.77. This was 6.2 per cent up on a year earlier, and the increase in the February quarter was 3.8 per cent. Total surveyed employment in all sectors rose 4.1 per cent (or 45,612 jobs) during the year ending February 28, 1985, the survey said. This compared with an increase of 1.2 per cent in the 1983-84 year, and total employment now is 1,164 084 jobs. During the February, 1985. quarter total surveyed

employment rose 1 per cent (or 11,399 jobs) compared with an increase of 0.4 per cent (or 4433 jobs) during the corresponding February, 1984, quarter. The measure of employment in the quarterly survey covered full-time and part-time employees, and all working proprietors outside agriculture. During the February year, the number of fulltime employees rose 3.5 per cent (30,750) while the number of part-time employees rose 7.4 per cent (11,904) and the number of working proprietors 3.5 per cent (3138). Full-time employees numbered 899,693; part-time, 172,839; and there were 91,552 working proprietors. The February, 1985, quarter saw an increase of 1.6 per cent in the number of

full-time employees, compared with an increase of 1.4 per cent in the equivalent 1984 quarter. The number of part-time employees dropped 2.8 per cent in the 1985 quarter, compared with a decrease of 4.7 per cent in 1984. and a 2.2 per cent increase in the number of working proprietors in the 1985 quarter, compared with a 0.8 per cent increase in 1984. The average ordinary time weekly hours fell 0.3 per cent between the survey in February, 1984, of 37.2 hours and the survey in February, 1985, of 37.1 hours. Average weekly overtime hours increased from 2.4 to 2.7 hours during the year, and from 2.6 hours to 2.7 hours in the quarter to February, 1985.