Australia Wage Growth

Australia's seasonally adjusted wage price index increased by 3.1% yoy in Q3 of 2022, accelerating from a 2.6% gain in Q2, above market forecasts of 3.0%. This was the highest reading since Q1 of 2013, amid further improvement in business conditions in the wake of the COVID pandemic. Wages in the private sector quickened to 3.4%, the highest since Q4 of 2012; while those in public went up for the fifth straight quarter (2.4% vs 2.4%). In original terms, the retail trade industry recorded the highest annual growth at 4.2%, followed by rental hiring and real estate services (4.0%), wholesale trade (3.8%), financials and insurance services (3.7%), manufacturing (3.6%), media & telecommunications (3.5%), other services (3.5%), construction (3.4%), utilities (2.9%), transport, postal and warehousing (2.5%), and education (2.2%).