Australia Wage Price Index rose 0.5% qoq in Q3, matched expectations. The trend and seasonally adjusted indexes for Australia both rose 2.2% through the year. The ABS Chief Economist, Bruce Hockman stated “The rate of annual wage growth eased slightly in September after being stable over the past year, continuing to grow at a slightly faster rate than consumer prices over the past year. The largest contribution to wage growth over the quarter was jobs in the health care and social assistance industry.”
Westpac-MI Consumer Sentiment rose 4.5% to 97.0 in November, up from 92.8. Westpac said “This result continues to support the general view that consumers are somewhat unnerved by the announcement of low rates and media controversy around the banks’ responses.”
