WAGES & PRICES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 February 1939, Page 6

WAGES & PRICES

POSITION IN DOMINION & AUSTRALIA

MINISTER’S COMPARISON. GREATER REAL WAGE RISE IN THIS COUNTRY. (By TelPSraph— Ptpc’; Association i WELLINGTON, This Day. Retail prices and wages in New Zealand were compared with the corresponding figures for Australia by the Minister of Industries and Commerce, the Hon D. G. Sullivan, in a statement yesterday. He said that between November, 1937, and November, 1938, the index for food and groceries in Australia rose from 851 to 882, compared with the New Zealand figures for all foods, which fell in the same period from 1002 to 985.

A comparison of the wages and retail prices in New Zealand and Australia shows the position of the New Zealand worker to have improved relatively much more than did the position of the Australian worker,” said Mr Sullivan. “Unfortunately, Australian statistics for wages are not available for a period later than the June quarter of 1938, and in order that comparison between Australia and New Zealand may be of a comparable basis the statistics for New Zealand to June last have been taken for making the following comparison.

“Between 1935 and June, 1938, the ‘all-groups’ retail price index rose from 837 to 947, and in the same period the Australian index advanced from 823 to 876. The index number of the weekly money wage rates of adult male workers in New Zealand advanced between 1935 and June, 1938, from 858 to, 1074. The Australian wage rate’ index for the same period advanced from 824 to 908.

“Expressing these various advances' in the form of percentages, it is seen that whereas New Zealand’s prices advanced, by 13.1 per cent, as against an advance of 6.4 per cent in the case of Australia, the wages of New Zealanders advanced by 25.2 per cent, as against a rise of only 10.2 per cent for Australian workers. Reducing the above figures to the basis of ‘real’ wages, it will be seen that while the average Australian’s ‘real’ income has advanced by 3.6 per cent, that of the New Zealander is 10.5 per cent higher. “The above figures speak for themselves, and prove conclusively that while prices have risen in the past they have now reached a degree of relative stability,” added the Minister “They have not by any means overtaken the increases which , were made in wage rates and the New Zealand worker has made far greater progress in respect of his ‘real’ living income than his Australian counterpart."