Wage prices rise: Midday roundup

Wage prices in Australia rose in the quarter to September, mostly in line with analyst expectations, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The ABS statistics show the Australian wage price index lifted 0.7%, in seasonally adjusted terms, over the three months to June.

This brought the index’s full-year increase to September 30 to 3.7% for all jobs.

In the three months to June, the index rose an unrevised 1% and analysts had expected total hourly rates of pay to have risen 0.8%.

The index measures movement in underlying wages by calculating the change in wage and salary cost across a range of occupations.

Clean Energy Investment Grants announced

The Federal Government has announced the 89 manufacturers who are recipients of new grants from the Clean Technology Investment Programs worth a combined $30 million.

The grants include an award of $3,256,333 to Queensland’s Boral Bricks, Darra, for a $9.8 million project and a $1,053,500 grant to Victoria’s Wodonga Rendering for a $4.1 million project.

“Over coming years the Clean Technology Investment Programs are expected to support around 3,000 projects and help many manufacturers across Australia use energy more efficiently,” Minister for Industry and Innovation Greg Combet said.

Australian shares flat after mixed leads

The Australian sharemarket has opened flat this morning, following weak offshore leads. While stocks in the United States fell, shares in Europe rose slightly on hopes of a Spanish bailout.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 10.4 points or 0.2% to 4,390.2 at 12.00 AEST, while in the United States the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 58 points or 0.5% to 12,756.2.