Australia’s Wage Price Index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.8% for the third consecutive quarter in September, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

“September annual wage growth was 3.5%, falling below 4% for the first time since June quarter 2023,” Michelle Marquardt, the head of prices statistics at ABS, said.

Wages in the public sector also rose 0.8%, compared with a decrease of 0.9% in the previous quarter and lower than the 1% recorded in September 2023.

Seasonally adjusted, annual public sector wage growth was higher than private sector growth for the first time since the 2020 December quarter. 

Meanwhile, 49% of jobs recorded an hourly wage change in the September quarter of 2024. However, the ABS said the average hourly wage change of 3.9% for jobs in the private sector was lower than the 5.8% recorded in the same period last year.