Workers forecast low wage growth

AUSTRALIAN workers are resigned to meagre wage growth, but men are banking on fatter pay packets than women, a survey of inflationary expectations has found.

And respondents were less bullish on the prospect of a near-term bounce in the inflation rate, meaning growth in consumer prices is also likely to remain subdued.

The Melbourne Institute’s latest monthly survey of consumer inflationary expectations found respondents were not holding out much hope for a jump in wages over the next year amid a global climate of low inflation and cautious central banks.

Pay packets were expected to grow an average 1.7 per cent in the year to next September, the poll found.

It is unchanged from three months ago but slightly below annual growth in the official Wage Price Index, at 1.9 per cent.

The 1.7 per cent figure is in line with expectations of male workers, although their female colleagues expect pay growth of just 1.4 per cent.

Across the states, Victorians are most optimistic, expecting pay growth of 2.8 per cent; West Australians are at the other end, at 0.7 per cent.

For the year to September, 40.9 per cent of respondents reported their total pay had risen, while 10.3 per cent reported a pay cut.

The proportion of people expecting headline inflation of up to 5 per cent in the coming year — it is sitting at 1.9 per cent — slipped, with a growing number of people expecting it to clock in at 3 per cent or less.

The latest quarterly inflation figures will be released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on October 25.

For the year to September, 40.9 per cent of respondents reported their total pay had risen, while 10.3 per cent reported a pay cut.