Australian wage growth picked up further in the final three months of 2023 to pass the Reserve Bank’s forecast peak, suggesting policymakers will remain watchful as they assess price pressures in the economy.
The Wage Price Index advanced 4.2% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, just topping economists’ estimates, the Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed Wednesday. It was the highest recorded annual growth since the March quarter of 2009. On a quarterly basis, wages grew 0.9%, in line with estimates.