The Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday private sector wages, excluding bonuses, grew just 0.5 per cent in the June quarter.
Private sector wages grew at their slowest rate for at least 17 years in the 12 months to the end of June, confirming a trend that many economists say has stopped the unemployment rate surging but held back consumer spending.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday private sector wages, excluding bonuses, grew just 0.5 per cent in the June quarter, or 2.2 per cent over the year.
This is the slowest rate of growth in the history of the data series, which started in the September quarter of 1998.
Wages generally continued to grow as at a snail’s pace in the quarter, in line with market expectations and only slightly faster than in the first three months of the year.
However, the rate of growth remains in line with consumer prices, which have also been subdued in recent years.
The ABS said the seasonally adjusted wage price index rose 0.6 per cent in the June quarter, for a year-on-year increase of 2.3 per cent. Public sector wage growth led the way, up 0.7 per cent for the quarter and 2.5 per cent for the year.
Many economists have identified wage restraint as one of several factors steadying the jobs market despite the sharp slowdown in the resources sector and other industries at the end of the mining infrastructure boom.
Although the official unemployment rate jumped from 6 per cent top 6.3 per cent in July, jobs were added to the labour market.
By activity, health care, financial and insurance services, construction and wholesale trade showed the strongest quarterly growth, without seasonal adjustment, while the laggards included retailing, hospitality, transport, rental, hiring and real estate services and education and training. For the year, wage growth in mining and construction continued to cool rapidly.
“While mining and construction are key channels of weakness, the breadth of the slowdown in wages is striking,” said JP Morgan economist Ben K. Jarman.
“The dispersion in annual wage growth across sectors is the smallest on record, indicative of the general equilibrium drags from a falling terms of trade and weak nominal GDP growth.
“While a negative from the perspective of households, the broad flexibility of wages has surely prevented a larger rise in the unemployment rate,” he said.
Source：http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/wages-grow-at-slowest-rate-in-at-least-17-years-20150812-gixc2q.html