Wage growth perks up through agreements

2 Aug 2012, 10:29 am   -   Source: AAP

The average annualised wage increase was 4.5 per cent under enterprise bargaining agreements in the March quarter.

New data shows wage growth under enterprise bargaining agreements perked up in the first three months of the year.

The data, released by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations on Thursday, shows the average annualised wage increase through collective agreements was 4.5 per cent in the March quarter, up from 3.9 per cent in the previous quarter.

The annualised rate for the private sector rose 0.5 percentage points to 4.6 per cent in the quarter, and increased by 0.3 percentage points in the public sector to 4.0 per cent.

The result was stronger than the Reserve Bank of Australia's preferred wage growth measure for the same quarter.

The March-quarter wage price index, released in May by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, showed an annual rate of 3.6 per cent - well below the 4.5 per cent level that is normally considered a threat to the inflation outlook.

The June-quarter wage price index is released on August 15.

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