Wage growth was in line with inflation in the June quarter, new figures show.
The wage price index, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday, rose by 0.8 per cent in the June quarter.
This compares to the consumer price index – a measure of the cost of living – which grew by 0.8 per cent in the June quarter.
The annual figure came in at 3.6 per cent.
Private sector wages rose 0.8 per cent and public sector wages were up 0.7 per cent.
The May federal budget forecast real wages growth on an annual basis to return by early 2024.
“That’s come forward a bit, we’re actually progressing a bit better than we thought six or 12 months ago when it comes to wages growth in our economy,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers told ABC Radio earlier on Tuesday.
“We’re doing that at the same time as inflation is moderating in the economy.”
He said the source of inflation was not people earning too much.
“Inflation is coming at us from all kinds of other directions,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dr Chalmers said he would be kickstarting a conversation about the bigger picture for the economy with the release of the Intergenerational Report next week.
“We need a new approach to boosting productivity in our economy,” he said.
“From our point of view – the energy transformation, skilling people up to adapt and adopt technology, making particularly our care economy more productive – these are our priorities.”
The report to be released on August 24 will look at the forces shaping the Australian economy over the next four decades.
– AAP
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