Weak wages growth eases off bottom thanks to public sector

Wednesday 21 February 2018

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has just released its Wage Price Index for the December quarter of 2017, which revealed a modest rebound in wages growth from very low levels:

According to the ABS, wages grew by 0.55% (both s.a. and trend) in the December quarter, slightly beating economists’ expectations of a 0.5% rise. Private sector wages grew by 0.48% (both s.a. and trend) over the quarter, whereas public sector wages grew by 0.62% (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.