The seasonally adjusted Wage Price Index rose 0.8 per cent in the December quarter to hit 3.3 per cent annually.
This is according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and marks a smaller increase in hourly wage rates than seen in September, when wages grew 1.1 per cent.
“It was, however, higher than any December quarter increase across the last decade,” notes Michelle Marquardt, ABS head of prices statistics.
“This follows on from the September and June 2022 quarters which were also higher than their comparable quarters back to 2012.
“In combination these quarterly increases have resulted in the highest annual growth in hourly wages since December quarter 2012.”
Despite this cheery outlook, growth was lower than tipped by the RBA, and still falls far behind inflation, at 7.8 per cent.
Last week, the RBA said that annual wages growth was expected to reach 4.2 per cent by the end of the year, up from the RBA’s previous forecast of 3.9 per cent, published in November.
