As wage stagnation and cost-of-living issues continue to feature in the federal election campaign, a new report shows Australia has experienced the greatest deceleration in real pay growth in the OECD since 2013, despite its relatively strong employment growth and low unemployment, suggesting that policy and institutional factors are the main culprit, rather than market forces.
The RBA has today raised interest rates for the first time in more than a decade, due to a rapid increase in inflation and "evidence that wages growth is picking up".
The ACTU's first television advertisement of the election campaign seeks to sheet home the blame for wage stagnation to Prime Minister Scott Morrison's "inaction".
An FWC full bench has today acceded to the NT Government's request to overturn the approval of its main public sector agreement that covers 13,000 employees, after it lodged the wrong version of the deal with the tribunal.
A spike in consumer price inflation, confirmed by the ABS today, might combine with labour shortages to put pressure on wage rises, which remain near historic lows.
The CPSU has stepped up its criticism of the Morrison Government's public sector wages policy, saying it demands that workers sign up to "unknown" pay rises beyond the first year of new enterprise deals.
The RBA's board has rejected suggestions that recent wage pressures flowing from the unexpectedly rapid economic recovery, sub-5% unemployment and closed borders is leading to more generalised pay rises in the short term, while the bank's intelligence-gathering indicates employers are not planning catch-up increases for workers subjected to wage freezes.
After more than a decade of sub-4% growth in pay, Treasury has projected in its Intergenerational Report, released today, that it will return to that level in 2028 as productivity resumes its long-term growth path of 1.5%.
