Wages keeping ahead of inflation, but growth is slowing

Wage growth has outstripped inflation for the 12 months to the September quarter - but that growth has slowed, the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows.

Wages lifted 3.5 per cent in the year to September, according to the new Wage Price Index update, while the Consumer Price Index rose 2.8 per cent in the same period.

In real terms, that means wages are up 0.7 per cent for the year.

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It's the first time annual wage growth has dropped below four per cent since the June quarter last year.

For the September quarter alone, wages lifted 0.8 per cent, compared to 0.2 per cent for the CPI in the same period.

Public sector wages rose by more than the private sector for the first time since December 2020.

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Public sector annual growth for this September quarter (3.7 per cent) was higher than in the same quarter last year (3.5 per cent), but lower than the recent peak (4.2 per cent) seen in December quarter 2023.

"Annual growth in the private sector was 3.5 per cent in the September quarter 2024. This is the lowest private sector annual growth since the September quarter 2022," ABS head of price statistics Michelle Marquardt said.

Marquardt said some of the slower growth could be attributed to the Fair Work Commission's annual wage review.

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"The latest decision of a 3.75 per cent wage increase paid from July 1 was lower than the September quarter 2023 increase of 5.75 per cent," she said.

"It was also lower than the Commission's September quarter 2022 awarded increase of between 4.6 per cent and 5.2 per cent."

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