{"id":48386,"date":"2014-03-12T02:24:34","date_gmt":"2014-03-12T06:24:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/countingpips.com\/forex-news\/?p=48386"},"modified":"2014-03-12T02:24:34","modified_gmt":"2014-03-12T06:24:34","slug":"why-a-rise-in-australian-unemployment-will-mean-lower-wages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/2014\/03\/12\/why-a-rise-in-australian-unemployment-will-mean-lower-wages\/","title":{"rendered":"Why a Rise in Australian Unemployment Will Mean Lower Wages"},"content":{"rendered":"

By MoneyMorning.com.au<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n

The Australian unemployment rate<\/strong> is now at 6%. That\u2019s the highest level in decades. Unfortunately, the job loss tally seems to be growing: Toyota, Alcoa, Qantas\u2026<\/p>\n

But sacked workers aren\u2019t the only ones facing bad news. <\/p>\n

While Employment Minister Eric Abetz warned that Australia faces a \u2018wages explosion\u2019, the problem Australians are facing is the exact opposite.<\/p>\n

Australian wages are falling quickly<\/h2>\n

There are a number of factors at play here. First, many of those who have recently lost their job will have to take lower positions at much less pay. <\/p>\n

As unemployment in Australia grows<\/strong>, wage growth will flatline. After all, when people are grateful just to get a job, they won\u2019t quibble about the pay. <\/p>\n

The same principle applies to people already in a job. When there is a queue of unemployed people clamouring for your job, people are less likely to ask the boss for a pay rise. <\/p>\n

And it shouldn\u2019t be a surprise if your boss cuts your hours, either. In order to cut costs in the slowing Australian economy<\/a>, bosses are slashing their wages bills by cutting hours. According to the ABS, underemployment is at 2010 levels. <\/p>\n

Rising unemployment is not the only culprit for lower wages<\/h2>\n

But it\u2019s not just growing unemployment at play here, either. Dun and Bradsheet\u2019s business survey forecasts capital investment to rise by 19% this year.<\/p>\n

This has the potential to lower wages in certain jobs as new hires are frozen in favour of capital investment and automation.<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s the final factor that\u2019s pushing wages down: the Australian Government.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re sending the message to businesses that they should take a hard line in employee pay negotiations. <\/p>\n

Eric Abetz accused employers of being \u2018weak kneed\u2019 in their dealings with employees, and blamed Toyota and SPC Ardmona\u2019s troubles on high wages.<\/p>\n

The government has also asked the Fairwork Commission \u2014 which is reviewing penalty rates \u2014 to take into account the concerns of business and the wider economy when it makes its decision. In other words the Government is siding with employers. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a new concern for the government. Tony Abbott and Eric Abetz have spoken previously of the negative effects of penalty rates on employers, while the issue of cutting penalty rates is a hot topic among back benchers.<\/p>\n

Victorian Liberal MP Dan Tehan is the latest, saying he thought penalty rates should be cut and that he wasn\u2019t alone in the Liberal party.<\/p>\n

Between unemployment, job losses and low wages, the year is looking bleak for workers in Australia. Don\u2019t expect a pay rise. <\/p>\n

Callum Denness
\nContributing Editor, Money Morning<\/em><\/strong>
\nJoin Money Morning on Google+ <\/u><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n<\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n


\nBy MoneyMorning.com.au<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By MoneyMorning.com.au The Australian unemployment rate is now at 6%. That\u2019s the highest level in decades. Unfortunately, the job loss tally seems to be growing: Toyota, Alcoa, Qantas\u2026 But sacked workers aren\u2019t the only ones facing bad news. While Employment Minister Eric Abetz warned that Australia faces a \u2018wages explosion\u2019, the problem Australians are facing … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Why a Rise in Australian Unemployment Will Mean Lower Wages”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48386\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}