% per year - Source frequency: quarterly
Nominal wage growth (Wage Price Index) minus the inflation rate (CPI). Shows whether wages are keeping up with prices — the single number that tells people if they're going forwards or backwards financially.
Positive real wage growth means workers' purchasing power is increasing. Negative means pay rises are being eaten by inflation, leaving people worse off in real terms.
Higher is better
Source: Derived: ABS Wage Price Index (Cat. 6345.0) minus ABS CPI (Cat. 6401.0)
GREEN = favorable trend within acceptable band of baseline. AMBER = flat or mild change. RED = unfavorable trend beyond threshold.
