Employers are nonetheless providing respectable salaries to draw new recruits, however the slowing tempo of progress in marketed pay supplies additional proof of a cooling jobs market.
Advertised salaries as measured by employment market Seek climbed 4.4 per cent within the yr to January.
While sturdy, the consequence was barely beneath the 4.6 per cent progress recorded within the 12 months to December.
The index, which measures the change within the marketed salaries on job postings over time, has now recorded two months in a row of slowing month-on-month progress.
Seek senior economist Matt Cowgill mentioned the moderation in marketed wage progress aligned with different easing labour market indicators such because the unemployment charge and job advert volumes.
“However, the labour market is still very tight, just not as tight as it was a few months ago,” he mentioned.
Like the wages progress captured within the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ wage worth index final week, marketed salaries progress is falling nicely behind the 7.8 per cent inflation charge.
“That means real, inflation-adjusted advertised salaries are falling, adding to the cost-of-living squeeze on Australian workers,” he mentioned.
Mr Cowgill mentioned the index confirmed marketed salaries have been rising sooner than peoples’ precise pay, highlighting that employees have been more likely to get pleasure from larger pay bumps by switching jobs.
He mentioned the findings and different latest wage indicators would assist calm the Reserve Bank’s nervousness a few price-wage spiral, taking the strain off its inflation-squashing regime.
Consumer spending patterns have been one other supply of uncertainty for the RBA because it hikes rates of interest to return inflation to inside its two-to-three per cent goal vary.
ABS retail gross sales information, due on Tuesday, ought to supply insights into spending habits in mild of elevated costs and better rates of interest.
NAB markets economist Taylor Nugent and his colleagues count on a bounce of two per cent month-on-month after a distorted softening in December.
This would indicate comparatively flat retail gross sales since October, he mentioned.
Consumer confidence has been monitoring nicely beneath common and returned one other depressed consequence final week.
ANZ and Roy Morgan’s measure of shopper sentiment decreased barely by 0.4 factors to 80.
ANZ senior economist Adelaide Timbrell mentioned it was the third consecutive week when confidence was among the many worst 10 outcomes for the reason that COVID-19 outbreak in Australia.
“Confidence about current and future economic conditions are at their lowest level since November 2022, while current financial conditions was at its worst level since December 2022,” she mentioned.
Confidence amongst these paying off a mortgage dropped by a notable 4.4 factors to the bottom degree since April 2020 as rate of interest rises proceed.
Also on Tuesday, the December quarter steadiness of funds and January personal sector credit score information will likely be launched.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
