© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A worker talks on his phone as he pushes a trolley loaded with goods across a main road in a retail shopping area in central Sydney, Australia, November 15, 2017. REUTERS/Steven Saphore
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian wages grew at the fastest annual pace in a decade last quarter but that was still short of market forecasts and could lessen the pressure for further aggressive hikes in interest rates, sending the local dollar lower.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics out on Wednesday showed its wage price index rose 0.8% in the December quarter from the previous quarter, under forecasts of a 1.0% increase.
Annual pay growth picked up to 3.3%, from a revised 3.2%, but again was under forecasts of 3.5% and a likely relief for policy makers who fear high inflation could lead to a damaging price-wage spiral.
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