XN000022-1981-07-17 — Page 4

FRIDAY, JULY 17, 1981

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WAGE INDEXES FOR MANUFACTURING WORKERS

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THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT TODAY PUBLISHED WAGE INDEXES FOR MANUFACTURING WORKERS IN MARCH 1981. THESE ARE DERIVED FROM HALF-YEARLY WAGE SURVEYS CONDUCTED BY THE DEPARTMENT. AS THE SURVEYS ARE NOT BASED ON A SCIENTIFICALLY SELECTED SAMPLE, THE RESULTS CAN ONLY BE CONSIDERED AS ROUGHLY INDICATIVE OF HOW WAGES MAY HAVE BEEN CHANGING.

TAK ING AVERAGE WAGES DURING THE PERIOD JULY 1973 TO JUNE 1974 AS 100, THE INDEX OF NOMINAL AVERAGE DAILY WAGES (EXCLUDING FRINGE BENEFITS) FOR MANUFACTURING WORKERS IN MARCH 1981 WAS 224. COMPARED WITH MARCH 1980, THERE WAS AN INCREASE OF 28 POINTS OR 14.3 PER CENT. COMPARED WITH SEPTEMBER 1980, THERE WAS AN INCREASE OF 16 POINTS OR 7.7 PER CENT. INCLUDING FRINGE BENEFITS, THE INDEX IN MARCH 1981 WAS 231, REPRESENTING AN INCREASE OF 29 POINTS OR 14.4 PER CENT OVER MARCH 1980 AND 17 POINTS OR 7.9 PER CENT OVER SEPTEMBER 1980.

THE INDEXES FOR THE LARGER MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES IN TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT SHOW THE FOLLOWING CHANGES FOR MARCH 1981 COMPARED WITH MARCH 1980 AND SEPTEMBER 1980:

NOMINAL INDEX

EXCLUDING FRINGE BENEF ITS

% CHANGE

MAR. 81 OVER

INDUSTRY

MAR. 80 SEPT 80 MAR 81

SEPT 80 MAR 80

MANUFACTURING

196

208

224

+ 7.7

+14.3

TEXTILES

203

213

231

+ 8.5

+13.8

ELECTRICAL

202

216

217

+ 0.5

+ 7.4

APPLIANCES

ELECTRONICS

208

216

251

+16.2

+20.7

GARMENTS

182

197

208

+ 5.6

+14.3

GLOVES

167

179

178

0.6

+ 6.6

HANDBAGS

194

195

206

+ 5.6

+ 6.2

PLASTIC PRODUCTS

233

238

254

+ 6.7

+9.0

OTHER THAN FLOWERS

AND TOYS

PLASTIC TOYS

200

204

219

+7.4

+ 9.5

PRINTING

222

254

261

+ 2.8

+17.6

NOMINAL INDEX