Australian wages surged at their slowest pace on record last quarter, as a depressant for consumer spending along with a challenge to policymakers’ hopes that inflation had bottomed out.
On Wednesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that its wage price index added just 0.4% during July-September, which is the smallest surge since the data series started in 1997.
Annual wage growth braked to about 1.9%, which is again the lowest on record, and under already meager predictions of 2%. It turned to be less than half the wage growth rate employees enjoyed a decade ago when a mining boom spurred pay awards across the nation.
It also belies the Australian economy that is ascending at over 3% – much faster than its rich-world counterparts, and a downside threat to inflation, which is already running at all-time minimums.
The wage growth slowdown appeared to be a setback for the Reserve Bank of Australia, which left interest rates at 1.5% this month.
