So when does wages growth pick up?
Michael Pascoe at The New Daily investigates.
It's a good question, with a number of potential underlying factors and causes.
Nationally wages growth had begun to rise on the most recent quarterly measures, to a 3½ year high, but from very low levels.
Skills shortages are beginning to emerge, in parts of the construction sector.
Another industry with a looming skills shortage is rail.
Hopefully money growth loosens up a bit so that the wages growth cycle isn't killed before it even begins.
In previous cycles rate hikes have not begun until nominal wages growth reached at least 3.2 per cent (2002), and even as high as 4 per cent (2007).
In the private sector wages growth has yet to rise above 2.1 per cent, so there is a way to go here.
