Wages growth lowest on record

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By Leith van Onselen

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has just released its Wage Price Index for the December quarter of 2014, which revealed a continuation of soft wages growth across the economy, with annual wages growth also tracking at the lowest rate in the series’ 16-year history (see below charts).

ScreenHunter_6201 Feb. 25 11.36
ScreenHunter_6202 Feb. 25 11.36
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According to the ABS, wages grew by 0.6% (both s.a. and trend) in the December quarter, in line with analyst’s expectations. Private sector wages grew by 0.6% (both s.a. and trend) over the quarter, whereas public sector wages grew by 0.7% (both s.a. and trend). Over the year, total wages grew by 2.5% (both s.a. and trend), with the private sector experiencing 2.4% (trend) and 2.5% (s.a) growth and the public sector 2.7% growth (both s.a. and trend).

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
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