The data point of most note today is that for wages in Australia, the Q4 2023 Wage Price Index (WPI). The WPI is the benchmark measure of wages growth in the country. In Q3 the 1.3% q/q jump was on the back of the Australian Fair Work Commission’s decision to raise minimum and award wages by 5.75%. This flowed through to CPI, a ‘demand pull’ effect. This is a concern for the Reserve Bank of Australia, they do not want to see a wage-price spiral higher. So far this has largely been avoided. The recent jobs market data is showing a less tight labour market, which is expected to hold wage gains from rising quickly.Indeed, analysts in Australia are mainly expecting wage growth to have peaked. This will reduce pressure on the RBA to tighten policy, at the margin.
- This snapshot from the ForexLive economic data calendar, access it here.
- The times in the left-most column are GMT.
- The numbers in the right-most column are the ‘prior’ (previous month/quarter as the case may be) result. The number in the column next to that, where there is a number, is the consensus median expected.
- I’ve noted data for New Zealand and Australia with text as the similarity of the little flags can sometimes be confusing.