Australia Yearbook - 2001

Chapter 13—Industry overview 569
13.4 INDEXES OF HOURS WORKED(a), By Industry
Change
from
1998–99
1997–98
Average annual rate of
growth 1990–91 to
1998–99
Industry
Index number
%
%
Agriculture, forestry and fishing 94.1 –5.9 –0.7
Mining 99.2 –0.8 –1.1
Manufacturing 98.2 –1.8 –1.4
Electricity, gas and water supply 106.9 6.9 –4.4
Construction 105.5 5.5 1.8
Wholesale trade 101.8 1.8 0.1
Retail trade 103.1 3.1 1.4
Accommodation, cafes and restaurants 101.4 1.4 2.8
Transport and storage 103.0 3.0 1.1
Communication services 103.3 3.3 1.0
Finance and insurance 104.1 4.1 –0.9
Property and business services 104.5 4.5 5.9
Government administration and defence 101.6 1.6 –0.9
Education 104.5 4.5 1.9
Health and community services 102.7 2.7 2.2
Cultural and recreational services 102.6 2.6 3.9
Personal and other services 98.8 –1.2 2.9
All industries 101.9 1.9 1.3
(a) Reference year 1997–98 = 100.
Source: Australian System of National Accounts, 1998–99 (5204.0).
It is interesting to compare the growth in hours
worked with the growth in wages over the same
period. In the Manufacturing industry, hours
worked fell over the period from 1990–91 to
1998–99. However, wages for this industry grew
at an annual rate of 3%, compared with the
average for all industries of 5%.
In evaluating changes in hours worked, it is
important to recognise that industry
restructuring, outsourcing of some functions and
contract employment have impacted more
substantially on some industries than others.
More detail on employment changes over time is
included in Chapter 6, Labour.
Changes in labour
productivity
Changes in the number of hours worked provide
another indicator of the level of economic activity
of an industry. A developing or buoyant industry
will generally show an increase in the number of
hours worked over time. However, rapid growth
in labour productivity within an industry may be
associated with a decline in hours worked. A
general indication of such effects is provided in
table 13.5, which shows the changes in labour
productivity (measured here as chain volume
gross product per hour worked) experienced by
each industry between 1997–98 and 1998–99, as
well as the average rate of change over the period
from 1990–91 to 1998–99.
For some industries, principally those dominated
by the public sector, the growth in the volume of
output is derived using indicators of labour input
because of a lack of suitable output indicators.
Therefore, for these industries there are no
meaningful measures of labour productivity
growth. The remaining industries are known
collectively as the market sector, and indexes of
their labour productivity are shown in the table.
The average increase in labour productivity across
all industries in the market sector between
1997–98 and 1998–99 was 3%; over the period
from 1990–91 to 1998–99 the average annual
increase was 2%.
Gross product per hour worked increased most
markedly in the Agriculture, forestry and fishing
industry (14%); the industry achieved an average
annual increase in labour productivity of 4% over
the period from 1990–91 to 1998–99. In 1998–99
gross product per hour worked also increased in
Accommodation, cafes and restaurants (7%) and
the Communication services industry (6%).
Labour productivity in the Electricity, gas and
water supply industry increased on average by
6% per year over the period from 1990–91 to
1998–99 (although falling by 5% in 1998–99); this