Wage/Cost Increases
Stats NZ have issued two figures in the last week. The CPI figures for the year to 30 September have been released at 1.0% and the labour cost index reflected an increase of 1.8% in all salary and wage rates for the year to 30 June 2014. This latter continues a trend that has been very stable since the beginning of 2010.
For those of you considering salary/wage increases at the end of the year, 2% would be an amount that is ahead of inflation and in line with what has been granted across the country over the last year. I do believe, though, that in Christchurch the wage pressures are rather higher (especially in some sectors), so it may pay to look more carefully at factors specific to your industry and certainpositions, before granting across the board increases.