Wages growth stalls
Wages growth missed expectations badly.
Some economists had predicted a spike of up to 1.3 per cent in Q4 due to tight labour market conditions.
In the event wages growth was a paltry 0.78 per cent, well down from the 1.1 per cent seen in Q3 as the minimum wage was increased by the FWC.
Over the year wages growth was below the Reserve Bank's forecasts at 3.3 per cent.
Public sector wages growth was a miserable 2.47 per cent over 2022.
The weakest growth was seen in the two territories, where wages growth was 2.9 per cent (ACT) and 2.6 per cent (NT) respectively.
Western Australia and Tasmania led the way with 3.6 per cent wage price growth.
The peak of staff shortages was last year, so the threat of a price-wage spiral is pretty much dead in the water now, especially with Labor seemingly looking likely to ramp up immigration to even higher levels.
Temporary visa numbers were already up by ¾ million from their lows in Q4, with international student numbers now rising fast.
Paradoxically this could be handy news, as real wages growth of minus -4.5 per cent should slow spending right down.
Construction work done also fell in Q4, also missing market expectations for modest growth.
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Roy Morgan reported a record fall in inflation expectations, dropping from 6.5 per cent to 5.3 per cent over the past two months, included a 0.7 per cent drop in January.
The record decline in inflation expectations show that consumers agree that inflation peaked in late 2022.
The full report from Roy Morgan is here.
