Jobs For Those In The Know

Newcastle Herald

Tuesday December 13, 2005

By IAN KIRKWOOD

EMPLOYMENT was continuing to rise in the "knowledge" sectors of the economy, Hunter Valley Research Foundation said yesterday.

Foundation co-director of research Andrew Searles said the Hunter economy had continued its shift from the primary and and secondary industries to the tertiary sector.

Mr Searles said the "knowledge" industries within the tertiary sector, particularly health, community services, education, property and business services, had been the growth leaders.

These areas tended to attract high wages but other tertiary industry sectors, including retail, accommodation, cafes and restaurants, were at the other end of the earnings scale.

Mr Searles said the foundation had analysed a range of information from the Australian Bureau of Statistics to produce a reasonably detailed snapshot of the Hunter economy up to June last year.

In 1991, the median wage for a Hunter family was $300 to $399, against a NSW median of $400 to $499.

In 1996, the Hunter figure was $600 to $699, with the state figure $700 to $799.

Five years on, the NSW and Hunter medians were the same, $800 to $999.

More detailed figures from June 2004 showed that most of the high-wage jobs were in the tertiary sector but the top earners were in coalmining and the electricity (utilities) sector.

People in these areas were earning more than $1200 a week and remained better paid than the closest competition, in the finance and insurance sector.

Education earnings were put at nearly $1000 a week and Hunter earnings in this area outstripped the state average.

At the bottom of the wages spread, workers in retail, accommodation and restaurants/cafes earned between $400 and $500 a week.

Mr Searles said that even though the number of people in the secondary industry or manufacturing sectors had fallen in number and as a percentage of the workforce, this did not mean that production was dropping.

"Declining employment in agriculture, mining and manufacturing has not been without its critics," he said.

"Some people lament reduced employment opportunities in these industries as they probably mistakenly associate falling employment with falling output.

"However, rising labour productivity allows more to be produced with fewer people."

© 2005 Newcastle Herald

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