Good news and bad

There's good news and bad in the latest New Zealand Income Survey. The good news? The gender-pay gap has decreased to 9.6%, though this is largely due to higher-paid men losing their jobs than any virtue on the part of employers. The bad news? Wages grew by just 1.9%, the smallest amount in a decade, and far less than the 5% annual inflation in the comparable quarter. So, we're all going backwards. So much for National's "brighter future"...