Economic data released this morning by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the quarterly wage price index in Australia grew by only by 0.4% during the second quarter of 2021.
This reading came below market expectations and the previous reading of the index, which recorded a growth of about 0.6% during the first quarter of the year.
The wage price index is a leading indicator of inflation or the consumer price index. When companies pay more money for workers, these higher costs are reflected on consumers.
The index measures the change in business and government payments to workers - excluding incentives - on a quarterly basis. The above reading is the reading for the second quarter of 2021 in Australia, which is affected by the closure decisions and restrictions imposed to face the Coronavirus pandemic.
