Australia’s High Wage Growth Reinforce RBA’s Inflation Challenge

Australia’s annual wage growth remained elevated last quarter, highlighting ongoing labor market tightness and reinforcing the inflation challenge facing the Reserve Bank after this month’s interest-rate hike.

The Wage Price Index advanced an annual 3.4% in the three months through December, matching economists’ estimate, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed Wednesday. On a quarterly basis, it grew 0.8%. Public sector wages rose at a faster annual pace than the private sector for a fourth consecutive quarter, the report showed.