Australia wage price index rose 0.6 percent in December quarter

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported the fourth quarter wage price index at 0.6 percent quarter-on-quarter vs. an expected gain of 0.5 percent. The annualized figure printed at 2.1 percent vs. an expected figure of 2 percent. 

DECEMBER KEY POINTS (Source ABS)

TOTAL HOURLY RATES OF PAY EXCLUDING BONUSES

QUARTERLY CHANGE (SEP QTR 2017 TO DEC QTR 2017)

• The trend and seasonally adjusted indexes for Australia both rose 0.6% in the December quarter 2017. This continued the moderate rate of wage growth recorded by the series over the last two years.
• The Private and Public sector rose 0.5% and 0.6% respectively, seasonally adjusted.
• The rises in indexes at industry level (in original terms) ranged from 0.1% for Accommodation and food services to 1.0% for Information, media and telecommunications.

ANNUAL CHANGE (DEC QTR 2016 TO DEC QTR 2017)

• The trend and seasonally adjusted indexes for Australia both rose 2.1% through the year to the December quarter 2017. This was marginally higher through the year growth than has been recorded for both series during 2017.
• Rises in the original indexes through the year to the December quarter 2017 at the industry level ranged from 1.4% for Mining to 2.8% for Health care and social assistance.