Australian Economy Australian interest rates

Is Aussie wage growth stronger than reported?

Thursday 24 February 2022

As we know, Wednesday’s wage price index (WPI) disappointed expectations, recording only 2.3% annual growth in the 2021 calendar year:

With the RBA seeking wage growth in excess of 3.0%, this soft result all but squashed the notion that the RBA would lift the cash rate by mid-year.

Yesterday, the ABS release average weekly earnings (AWE) data for November 2021, which reported annual AWE growth of 3.8% – well above the WPI:

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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.