Average weekly wage jumps to $1,166.50 Thursday, February 26, 2009 » 04:28pm
The average weekly wage in Australia is now $1,166.50, after growing by 5.5 per cent in the year.
The quarterly seasonally-adjusted pace of average weekly ordinary time earnings (AWOTE) jumped 1.6 per cent in the three months to November, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data released on Thursday show.
The annual rate is well above the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) perceived 'line in the sand' at 4.5 per cent.
Fortunately for borrowers, the central bank's immediate focus is on economic growth rather than inflation.
On that score there were further signs that the economy avoided the worst of the global recession in final three months of 2008.
Business investment unexpectedly grew by a seasonally-adjusted 6.0 per cent in the December quarter, the ABS said.
Economists had forecast a 3.0 per cent fall.
Planned capital investment has not fallen away as some economists had feared, despite the economic slowdown.
The first estimate of expenditure for 2009-10 is $79.866 billion - 0.6 per cent higher than the first estimate of 2008-09 - although it does suggest zero growth in capital spending in the coming financial year.
The fifth estimate of expenditure for 2008-09 is $98.145 billion, 4.4 per cent lower than the fourth estimate, but 14.3 per cent higher than the fifth estimate for 2007-08.
The latest estimates of expenditure were surveyed in January and February.
Business investment has been a major plank of support for the economy in recent years as companies used proceeds from the resources boom to upgrade their facilities.
Thursday's capital expenditure data feeds into next week's September quarter national accounts.
