The RBA outlines its position on wages clearly:
"The recent data for wages had indicated relatively firm growth, which – given poor aggregate productivity outcomes – implied a high rate of growth in unit labour costs. According to the wage price index, private-sector wages grew by 3.9 per cent over the year to the March quarter, which was above the average pace over the period since 1997, although not as high as the peak rates reached in 2008. Not surprisingly, wage growth had been strongest in Western Australia and in sectors exposed to the mining boom. In the 2011 Annual Wage Review, Fair Work Australia had announced an increase of 3.4 per cent to apply to all Federal awards from July. The decision was made in terms of a uniform percentage increase that would preserve wage relativities, as opposed to the fixed dollar increases for all awards in earlier years."
