The average wage rate for all major sectors measured by the wage index fell 1.8% in nominal terms in September on the same month last year, the Census & Statistics Department says.

About 52% of companies reported drops in average wage rates, down from 61% in June. Meanwhile 41% of companies recorded increases in average wage rates, eight percentage points higher than the corresponding figure in June. The remaining 7% reported virtually no change in average wage rates.

After discounting the changes in consumer prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index (A), the overall average wage rate for all sections fell 2.6% in real terms.

The index of payroll per person engaged for all the sectors surveyed rose 2.1% in nominal terms in the third quarter over a year earlier.