Territory wages improved at a faster pace in the last quarter of 2022 amid a tight labour market, but not enough to plug the gap with inflation, which widened to a record level, according to new government figures.

Darwin’s wage price index (WPI) for the December quarter came in at 0.6 per cent, mirroring an increase of 1.1 per cent in the private sector and an incremental rise of 0.1 per cent in the public sector.

WPI tracks changes over time in wages and salaries for employee jobs, uninfluenced by changes in the quality or quantity of work done.

The minimal increase in WPI continued to fall well short of inflation. In the December quarter, the consumer price index (CPI)—a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by consumers for consumer goods and services—increased by 0.9 per cent.

The largest contributors to the NT’s increased CPI were recreation and culture, which went up by 2.2 per cent; alcohol and tobacco, with an increase of 1.3 per cent; and furnishings, household equipment and services with a contribution of a 1.2 per cent increase on overall inflation.

Annually, the Territory as a whole saw CPI increase by 6.6 per cent.

Year-on-year, the Territory reported a WPI increase of 2.2 per cent, due to a 3.0 per cent growth in the private sector and a 1.0 per cent uptick in the public sector.

The Territory has reported the weakest annual growth in the entire country. In other jurisdictions, changes in WPI range from 2.7 per cent in the ACT to 3.2 per cent in Tasmania.

Nationally, WPI went up by 2.9 per cent, reflecting a rise of 3.0 per cent in the private sector and a 2.4 per cent increase in the public sector.

Darwin’s CPI, meanwhile, increased by 7.1 per cent last year. The jurisdiction’s CPI was among the lowest in the country, tied with Canberra. CPI growth in other cities ranged from a surge of 7.6 per cent in Sydney to a high of 8.6 per cent in Adelaide.

The CPI for the eight capital cities averaged an increase of 7.8 per cent.