Australian wages fall 2%

 The median weekly earnings for Australian employees in their main job was 950 Australian dollars (881 U.S. dollars) with incomes dropping 2 percent, according to new survey released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday.
This was the first fall in Australian wages since 2008, ABS said in a media release.
ABS Director of Labor Force and Supplementary Surveys Manpreet Singh said the survey looked at weekly earnings of employees, their entitlement to paid leave and trade union membership.
He said 24 percent of employees, excluding owner managers of incorporated enterprises, did not have paid leave entitlements in their main job.
The survey also shows that 17 percent, or 1.7 million employees were trade union members in the main job, this being the lowest proportion in 22 years.
That proportion follows a general decline in trade union membership over several years.
"Of employees without paid leave entitlements in their main job, 6 percent were trade union members, compared to 22 percent for employees with paid leave entitlements. Trade union membership was higher in the public sector, with 42 percent of all employees being members, compared with 12 percent in the private sector," said Singh.